Excerpt from EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy​'s Introduction:

President Obama clearly understood that a clean, healthy environment is not a luxury. It is a right. And his Administration has made the case that smart investments in our environment do not conflict with a growing economy – they support it. These investments have helped contribute to the more than 15 million private-sector jobs created since early 2010. And in 2014 alone, clean energy investment increased by 14 percent, a rate five times that of the rest of the U.S. economy. 

And we have empowered citizens with new air and water quality monitoring tools and provided access to a wealth of new online applications that give the American public the information they need to take action to protect themselves and their families from exposure to pollution.

I am proud to report that we are now better protecting more Americans, especially the most vulnerable, from the health impacts of pollution, while our communities are stronger and more prepared for the effects of climate change.

• US EPA's Cabinet Exit Memo, January 5, 2017 (PDF)(16 pp, 731 K)