Critics hit Meehan for record on the environment
HAVERFORD » Environmental advocates stood along Darby Road Tuesday afternoon and asked U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan, R-7 of Chadds Ford, to take a stronger stance on climate change and other issues close to their hearts.
“I ask Rep. Meehan, ‘Where is your commitment to deal with climate change?’” Richard Whiteford of Downingtown said.
Whiteford pointed out Meehan’s support for HR 3354, which he said cut $800 million from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and said he didn’t like Meehan’s support of the Mullin Amendment, which restricted funds for estimating the social cost of carbon.
Meehan’s spokesman, John Elizandro, said HR 3354 funded the EPA and other agencies and that Meehan would have liked to see more funding for the EPA, but he believed balance was important to keep the agency open.
“You’d be hard-pressed to find a Republican in Congress with a better record on the environment than Congressman Meehan,” Elizandro said. “The congressman spoke out against proposed cuts to the EPA earlier this year and through is work on the Bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus, he’s a leader in a bipartisan effort to reduce carbon emissions and address the challenge of global warming.”
Elizandro said Meehan is a co-sponsor of a measure introduced by U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-21, of Glen Falls, N.Y., that urges Congress to take action to combat climate change.
“Rep. Meehan believes we can be good stewards of our environment without destroying good-paying middle class jobs,” Elizandro said. “For example, he joined the Wilderness Society and other conservation groups in opposing the Mullin Amendment to the government funding bill that would have prohibited the EPA from enforcing an Obama-era rule on methane emissions.”
In addition, he said Meehan voted against an additional 32 percent cut to the EPA’s funding and was in favor of keeping the agency’s Philadelphia regional office and Criminal Enforcement Division open.
Others in attendance Tuesday expressed their concerns for the EPA.
“This vote (for HR 3354) shows the congressman’s willingness to side with polluters over the people that he represents,” Jeanne Mann of Indivisible Upper Darby said. “The Environmental Protection Agency is a people’s agency and we must protect it. We need a fully funded EPA to help protect communities.”