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House GOP Pushes Through Anti-EPA Bills That Could Lead To 32,500 Premature Deaths From Pollution

Last week, the so-called “pro-life” party voted for several bills that will actually endanger thousands of lives. First, House Republicans passed the anti-abortion bill opponents call the “Let Women Die” Act. Then they pushed through H.R. 2250, which eliminates several pollution control requirements for industrial boilers and incinerators.

That anti-EPA vote came on the heels of a measure to relax proposed regulations on cement kilns. The EPA estimates that the environmental regulations Republicans weakened or repealed in just the past two weeks will lead to at least 32,500 premature deaths:

House Republicans argued that the EPA Regulatory Relief Act of 2011 was a “timeout” from long-delayed regulations aimed at mercury that threatened to raise costs on boiler operators and incinerators. But the measure also exempts smaller burning facilities from any regulation at all.

The EPA estimated that the bill, H.R. 2250, would allow 20,000 people to die prematurely from pollution. […]

It’s just the latest in an ongoing assault on the EPA that as of last week had prompted 159 anti-environmental regulation votes on the House floor this year. The House passed a measure last week to relax proposed regulations on cement kilns, which the EPA says will lead to 12,500 premature deaths.

The bill will allow incinerators that are often located in highly populated areas to burn tires, plastics, oil sludge, and other toxic substances without any oversight or reporting requirements, Huffington Post notes.

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Earthjustice attorney Jim Pew said it is “simply appalling” that lobbyists who pushed for this bill and the members of Congress who voted for it know that it will sicken and kill thousands of Americans.

President Obama has said he will veto the legislation in the unlikely event that it passes the Senate.