Trump Administration Moves to Repeal EPA Climate Change Threat Finding

On Tuesday, the Trump administration announced its intention to repeal the 2009 scientific finding that states climate change caused by human activity poses a threat to public health and safety. This information was announced by EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. If this initiative is implemented, the federal government could lose one of its most important tools for controlling pollution that causes global warming, as well as for combating climate change.

The repeal is partly based on a report prepared by five researchers who have for many years questioned the scientific consensus on climate change and doubt the severity of its consequences.

The 2009 scientific finding served as the foundation for many important Environmental Protection Agency rules aimed at protecting human health and the environment, as well as reducing pollution from cars, power plants, and the oil and gas industry.

Zeldin called the repeal of this finding “the biggest deregulatory step in American history” during an appearance on the conservative podcast “Ruthless,” describing climate change as a dogma rather than science.

“It is essentially considered a dagger blow to the heart of the climate change religion.”

In addition to repealing the finding of threat, the EPA proposal also calls for the repeal of rules regulating greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, since they are based on this finding. The Biden administration had sought to strengthen these standards to encourage the auto industry to produce more fuel-efficient hybrids and electric vehicles.

The proposal text states that although greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, this is “primarily caused by increased emissions from foreign sources” and does not lead to negative health impacts for the U.S. population as the EPA predicted in the 2009 finding.

The U.S. is the second-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the world and has historically emitted more pollutants causing global warming than any other country. Many scientific studies since 2009 have confirmed that climate pollution and its consequences not only harm health but also lead to deaths.

Nearly 16 years after the first EPA finding, the world has warmed by another 0.45 degrees Celsius, reaching 1.4 degrees Celsius, according to climatologist Zeke Hausfather.

Numerous international and American scientific studies have found “growing undeniable evidence” that human activity, especially burning fossil fuels, is causing this warming. Even a slight temperature increase has a huge impact on weather, water resources, and food systems.

The world stands at a dangerous threshold: individual years, including 2024, have already exceeded the 1.5-degree limit set by the Paris Agreement – the point after which, scientists believe, the consequences of climate change may become irreversible. Many climatologists no longer believe the long-term 1.5-degree goal is achievable, as fossil fuel pollution continues and the world approaches 3 degrees of warming this century.

During the podcast, Zeldin stated that the scientific finding of threat to health was a cover for an attack on polluting industries and that this finding was “a simplified, I would say, inaccurate way to describe it.”

The Trump administration commissioned a new report on climate change and climate science along with proposals to repeal regulations, announced Energy Secretary Chris Wright. This document became the basis for repealing the EPA threat finding.

Wright recently hired three well-known researchers who have questioned or rejected the scientific consensus on climate change, including John Christy and Roy Spencer from the University of Alabama in Huntsville, as well as Steven Koonin from Stanford University’s Hoover Institution.

Christy, Spencer, and Koonin are co-authors of the Department of Energy report along with Canadian economist Ross McKitrick and Georgia Tech professor emeritus Judith Curry – all of whom hold views that contradict the scientific consensus. The group spent about two months preparing the report.

Wright noted that climate change “is a real physical phenomenon” that “is worth studying” and “even some action.”

“But instead, we have done nothing regarding the actual science of climate change or pragmatic ways to make progress. Climate policy has narrowed your life choices, threatened your business.”

Hausfather expressed surprise that this report became an official publication, noting that the Trump administration chose “five authors known for their extreme views on climate science” to write it.

“It reads like a blog post – a somewhat disjointed collection of often debunked skeptical claims, studies taken out of context, or selective examples that do not reflect the broader scientific research on climate. The fact that it was released simultaneously as the government hides actual national climate assessments that accurately reflect the science only underscores how much of a farce this is.”

He also strongly refuted the idea that scientific data indicates anything other than climate change posing a threat to people. The findings of international climatologists have been confirmed in the fourth and fifth U.S. national assessments, the first of which was released during the Trump administration.

“Both scientific confidence in climate change and evidence of the dangers it causes have increased since 2009. There is no evidence published in the last 16 years that in any way calls into question the scientific basis of the 2009 finding.”

Global warming intensifies extreme weather events such as heavy rainfall, heat waves, and wildfires, making them more likely, severe, and prolonged.

“These climate changes have moved beyond pure science and become part of everyday life,” said Phil Duffy, a climatologist and former Biden administration official at the White House.

Duffy, who lives in California, said he can now only purchase wildfire insurance through the state’s insurer of last resort – a reality for many Californians as fires grow larger amid rising temperatures.

“The evidence (in 2009) was compelling, but now it is even stronger,” he added.