A war on health

During his visit to a Western Pennsylvania coal mine on April 13, Scott Pruitt, head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, proclaimed “the war on coal is done” (“EPA’s Pruitt Says He’ll Be a Friend to Coal,” April 14). His war on public health and the environment has only just begun.

Mr. Pruitt and the Trump administration have made clear their decision to ally themselves with polluters while ignoring the needs of the American public and shirking the EPA’s responsibility to protect human health and the environment. The reckless slashing of the EPA budget will cost thousands of family-sustaining jobs while jeopardizing the entire country’s air quality and decades of essential climate change research.

Pennsylvanians, and all Americans, deserve leadership that will reduce carbon dioxide and methane pollution, minimizing the already damaging effects of climate change. We must continue to call out Mr. Pruitt and the Trump administration on every occasion power is abused to benefit the few at the cost of the health and lives of the many.

JOSEPH O. MINOTT

Executive Director Clean Air Council Philadelphia