Trump EPA Proposal Would Eliminate Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program

“EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program is a vital source of public information about climate pollution from some of the largest sources nationwide. For well over a decade, the program has given us critical information that we need to protect people from climate change and all its ensuing damages – from worsening floods, fires and heat waves to rising insurance costs. But today, the Trump EPA proposed getting rid of the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, a move that seeks to prevent public access to this important information.

“Information gathered through the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, as required by Congress, is publicly available and is used by a wide variety of state and local governments, businesses, and communities. The information shows the sources and scale of pollution that causes climate change, including from oil and gas facilities, landfills, and power plants, allowing for better decisions about how to address that pollution. The Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program allows us to create policies that make life safer, healthier and more affordable for all Americans.

“This is not the first time the Trump EPA has attacked the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program. Earlier this year, Administrator Lee Zeldin shut down the program’s reporting portal for over a month without explanation and then unlawfully tried to delay the deadlines for companies to report their climate pollution. EDF filed a lawsuit challenging those actions. The Trump administration also refused to release this year’s U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory – an annual accounting of pollution that uses Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program data. EDF got those documents through the Freedom of Information Act and made them publicly available on our website. 

“Eliminating information about pollution will not make the problem of climate change go away, it will only make it more expensive and difficult to deal with. EDF will vigorously oppose the Trump EPA’s proposal to eliminate the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program.”

            - Edwin LaMair, Senior Attorney, Environmental Defense Fund