On June 8, 2011, the Senate Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety and the Subcommittee on Children's Health and Environmental Responsibility of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held a joint hearing on, "Air Quality and Children's Health." Unfortunately, the hearing was little more than an attempt by the Democratic majority to build support for the Obama administration and the EPA's push for costly new regulations.

FreedomWorks questioned the merits of the hearing, which appeared to be an attempt to refocus the debate on the EPA's expansive new rules away from the devastating impacts on jobs and the economy.

Proponents of increased regulation attempted to focus on the adverse effects that air pollution can have on children with asthma; however, that's not really what the debate over increased EPA regulation is about. The EPA has no hard data proving that the costly new regulatory regime would reduce rates of asthma in children. In fact, asthma rates have been increasing in recent years, even as air pollution has decreased.

FreedomWorks opposes the EPA's power grab and the harmful effects it would have on the economy. FreedomWorks president Matt Kibbe commented, "Destroying jobs and raising costs on consumers can have a far more direct impact on families by making it far more difficult to afford the health care costs for their children-something that Obama and the EPA should keep in mind. The administration would do well to focus its efforts on promoting economic growth to generate the jobs that will improve the living standards of all Americans."

Source:
FreedomWorks