The most influential act of the EPA was to ban [[DDT]], a decision that critics across the political spectrum say has resulted in deaths of millions annually in [[Africa]] from [[malaria]]. DDT is highly effective in eliminating malaria, as it did in the United States. The reason given for banning DDT was to protect numerous bird species and the harmless insects on which they depend for food, but groups across the political spectrum and even the ''New York Times'' have criticized the loss of human life, especially in Africa, caused by this ban{{fact}}.
On April 2, 2007, the [[Supreme Court]] ruled that the EPA has the authority to regulate [[greenhouse gas]] emissions. This was a rebuke to the [[George W. Bush|Bush]] administration, which had called for voluntary reduction of the gassesgases. <ref>Fox News: High Court Rebukes Bush on Car Pollution [http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Apr02/0,4670,ScotusGreenhouseGases,00.html]</ref>.
On 8 February, 2008, a federal appeals court struck down a [[mercury]]-control plan imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency. The court ruled that the Bush administration ignored the law when it imposed less stringent requirements on power plants to reduce mercury pollution, which scientists fear could cause neurological problems in 60,000 newborns a year.<ref>[http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080208/ap_on_go_ot/epa_mercury_pollution Court strikes down EPA's plan on mercury ]</ref>