Peter Welch: “I want to thank my colleagues. You know, this issue of the environment is being completely--completely--ignored. Worse…”

“I want to thank my colleagues. You know, this issue of the environment is being completely--completely--ignored. Worse than that, the problems we have in our environment are being intensified by what the Trump administration is doing. You know the EPA mission is clear. It is about protecting human health and the environment. EPA regulations are intended, in some cases, to prevent mercury--that is what I am talking about-- contaminating our drinking water. They protect us--some of those regulations--from toxic gases, soot, and ash polluting out of the air. They keep lead out of our drinking water and asbestos out of our homes, and they do help fight climate change and prevent premature deaths caused by pollution. Now, there is a mantra in the Trump administration that regulations are bad--bad. There is not a single Member of this Senate--and that includes every single Democrat--who is not willing to make the most efficient regulations we can have to do the job that needs to be done to protect the health and safety. If there are regulations that need to be looked at, they need to be revised, they need to be reformed, let's do it. But the idea that the Federal Government would turn a blind eye to active pollution that is produced because it results in profit to the polluters is something not a single Member of this body should ever tolerate--ever, ever, ever.…”