(Washington) The administration of American President Donald Trump wants to reverse a standard aimed at restricting emissions of fine particles, which are very harmful to human health, a reversal forcefully denounced Tuesday by environmental organizations.
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The regulations in question were announced last year by the Democratic administration of Joe Biden and aimed to lower the authorized thresholds of fine particles in the air.
Emitted by industries and road transport, among others, these fine particles are linked to numerous premature deaths in the United States each year.
Chronic exposure to these particles increases the risk of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, and disproportionately affects disadvantaged populations.
The strengthening of standards desired by the previous American administration was, however, denounced as too costly by industrialists as well as Republican states, which had taken legal action on this subject.
In a request to a court hearing the case, the American Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), now headed by a close friend of Donald Trump, ordered the courts on Monday to cancel this rule.
According to the text consulted by AFP, the new administration accuses its predecessors of having “exceeded their powers” and of having made a “bad interpretation of the law”.
Criticizing an “illegal attempt to remove the standard,” the environmental organization Clean Air Task Force announced Tuesday its intention to oppose such abandonment.
“Trump has clearly shown that his program aims above all to save money for companies,” accused Patrice Simms of Earthjustice, deploring that the EPA now has “nothing more to do with protecting people’s health”.
In recent months, Donald Trump’s administration has taken steps to reverse the environmental measures adopted under Joe Biden and aimed in particular at reducing polluting emissions from automobiles or power plants, accusing them of being economically harmful.
