WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette has added to the political and legal pressure Colorado is putting on the Trump administration over climate change policy.
DeGette, D-Denver, this week joined two Democratic leaders in Congress in writing a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency requesting information about why the agency is lessening its enforcement of environmental regulations intended to halt global warming.
“We are deeply concerned that these actions undermine key enforcement programs and severely limit EPA’s ability to address climate change and protect public health and the environment,” the letter says.
DeGette is the ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations. She and the co-signers referred to media reports and the EPA’s own data that show the agency launched 20 percent fewer civil enforcement actions against polluters for environmental law violations in the fiscal year ending in September 2017.
The EPA also filed 30 percent fewer criminal cases in the same year, dropping enforcement to its lowest level in more than a decade, the data show. EPA officials have denied lax enforcement. They say they are seeking more efficient ways of deterring polluters.