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EPA Proposes To Rescind Endangerment Finding, Kneecapping Fight Against Climate Change
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced on July 29 that the Trump administration will propose to revoke the 2009 EPA endangerment finding that greenhouse gases “threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations.” Since its declaration, the finding has served as the legal basis for a vast number of climate regulations and emissions policies. The most notable of these regulations have been on motor vehicles and trucks which, combined with other transportation methods, make up the primary source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. The proposed repeal, if enacted, would become one of the most consequential deregulatory actions of the Trump administration, erasing the primary justification for current limits on air pollution from a variety of sources.
Zeldin claims that the finding and the resulting regulations “cost Americans a lot of money,” and that the proposal will save $54 billion annually. However, A March 2024 report from the EPA found that regulated vehicle tailpipe emissions provide $99 billion in annual net benefits and reduce carbon dioxide air pollution by 7.2 billion metric tons in total. Additionally, the costs of repealing the finding and its corresponding regulations will be felt across the American economy as air quality worsens, extreme weather events become more common and severe, water scarcity increases, and vital ecosystems are threatened. A 210-page supplementary document to the endangerment finding in 2009 outlined the threats that climate change resulting from greenhouse gases posed to the world, including severe heat waves, harms to ecosystems and environments, constrained water resources, and more.
Under President Trump, the U.S. has abandoned many of its efforts to curb global warming, such as rolling back limits on pollution for power plants, increasing reliance on and production of fossil fuels, and curbing growth in the clean energy industries. Removing the endangerment finding would significantly curb EPA efforts to fight climate change.
Although conservative groups and some industrial leaders have supported the announcement, the proposal will face challenges from environmental advocates, public health organizations, and legal experts, among many more. Proceedings, hearings, and court cases challenging this new proposal could stifle the repeal until at least next year. The finding has been challenged in court previously, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit dismissed the review, thereby upholding the finding. The repeal may also come into conflict with the 2007 Supreme Court ruling in Massachusetts v. E.P.A. that first established greenhouse gases as a pollutant that could be regulated under the Clean Air Act.
Find this and other updates in NEMWI’s EPA Tracker here.
Reported by NEMWI Intern Nicholas Clampitt, Brown University
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