Obama says U.S. 'less safe' after Trump erases power to fight climate change
Obama says U.S. ‘less safe’ after Trump erases power to fight climate change
Lauren Villagran Cybele Mayes-Osterman | USA TODAY Network
Washington — Former President Barack Obama slammed the Trump administration’s repeal of a landmark climate finding from the Democrat’s presidency, saying the United States is “less safe” after President Donald Trump eliminated the legal basis for federal regulations targeting greenhouse gases.
In a major blow to federal efforts to combat climate change, the Environmental Protection Agency, at Trump’s direction, rescinded the EPA’s “endangerment finding” on Feb. 12, which was signed during the Obama administration in 2019.
More: Trump revokes basis of U.S. climate regulations, wipes out auto rules
The finding stated that greenhouse gases in the atmosphere “threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations,” providing the legal underpinning for EPA actions during the Obama and Biden administrations to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. But with its elimination, greenhouse gases emitted from tailpipes on vehicles and factories are no longer subject to regulations from the federal government.
“Today, the Trump administration repealed the endangerment finding: the ruling that served as the basis for limits on tailpipe emissions and power plant rules,” Obama said in a statement on X. “Without it, we’ll be less safe, less healthy and less able to fight climate change — all so the fossil fuel industry can make even more money.”
‘Don’t worry about it,’ Trump says of environmental, health concerns
The finding’s revocation is the most sweeping step the Trump administration has taken to roll back federal regulations targeting climate change, which Trump regularly mocks as a “hoax” and a “con job.” The fossil fuel industry opposed the finding, which the Biden administration used to place new emissions standards on tailpipes to shift the nation to electric vehicles.
Trump touted the move at a White House event on Feb. 12, calling it “the single largest deregulatory action in American history.” He claimed it would provide Americans $1.3 trillion in savings, citing an EPA study that suggests the average cost of vehicles will be nearly $3,000 lower.
When asked about environmental and public health concerns with the action, Trump said his message to Americans is “don’t worry about it.”
“This has nothing to do with public health. This is all a scam, a giant scam,” Trump said. “This was a rip-off of the country by Obama and Biden.”
Most scientists and environmentalists reject Trump’s dismissal of climate change, and they widely condemned Trump’s repeal of the endangerment finding. Climate advocacy groups pointed to statistics and studies that have concluded rising greenhouse gas emissions are driving extreme weather patterns, fueling more intense rainfall and severe droughts.
Public health organizations also raised the alarm, including the American Lung Association, which is among the several organizations planning to challenge the rollback in court.
“This is a dark day for science and health,” Harold Wimmer, president and CEO of the American Lung Association, said in a statement. “Climate change harms health – period. By refusing to acknowledge and act on this, America’s health will suffer preventable harm.”