by Zach Colman
ClimateWire
NASHVILLE, Tenn.—The conservative movement might have given U.S. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt cover for one of the few climate change fights he’s hesitated to embrace.
Pruitt has expressed cautiousness about challenging the endangerment finding, the tome of scientific evidence for the harmful impacts of greenhouse gas emissions on human health. He’s said “it needs to be enforced and respected,” and those familiar with Pruitt’s thinking say he believes challenging the finding is an uphill battle, costly and unlikely to succeed…
Some saw the ALEC resolution as a way to call greater attention to the issue and to send a signal to Pruitt. Future regulations on greenhouse gases will remain a threat as long as the endangerment finding exists, they say.
“I know why people are reluctant. There’s going to be a lot of blowback, it’s not an easy thing to do, the agency is not fully staffed yet,” Milloy said. “But it’s not going to get any easier anytime soon, and there’s no upside to leaving it there. The environmentalists will sue, and they will sue, and they’ll keep pointing to the endangerment finding as long as it’s there.”
