Trump Repeals Cornerstone Rule Governing U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions
The Trump administration has revoked the Endangerment Finding, the rule that since 2009 has given the government the authority to regulate emissions responsible for global warming. The move has been described as a gift to “billionaire polluters,” at the expense of the health of millions of Americans.
The finding that the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere endangers public health and welfare has, since 2009, allowed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to limit pollution from vehicles, power plants, and other industrial sources.
Trump’s move
Thursday’s decision now revokes the government’s ability to impose monitoring, reporting, and limits on climate pollution caused by cars and trucks. Transportation is the leading source of climate pollution in the United States.
Trump praised the action as “the single largest deregulatory move in American history,” touting it as a major milestone. In a strikingly misguided boast about its environmental impact, he said, “This is a big one if you’re into environment… about as big as it gets.” In truth, his “big” move represents a significant setback for environmental protection, not the triumph he claimed.
The initiative is part of Trump’s broader anti-environmental push, which has seen him roll back pollution rules and expand the oil and gas industry, a move that is contrary to all the scientific data.
The decision will not apply to regulations on stationary sources of emissions, such as power plants and fossil fuel infrastructure, which are regulated under a separate section of the Clean Air Act, but it could pave the way for eliminating those standards as well. Trump’s EPA has also separately proposed determining that power plant emissions “do not significantly contribute to dangerous air pollution” and therefore should not be regulated.
Reactions
Environmentalists condemned the decision as illegal. Numerous advocacy groups have pledged to sue the EPA over the rollback, as has the State of California.
“If this reckless decision survives legal challenges, it will lead to more deadly wildfires, more extreme heat deaths, more climate-driven floods and droughts, and greater threats to communities nationwide – all while the EPA dismisses the overwhelming science that has protected public health for decades”, said Gavin Newsom, governor of California.
Former Democratic President Barack Obama also weighed in, calling Trump’s move something that will make Americans “less safe, less healthy and less able to fight climate change – all so the fossil fuel industry can make even more money”.
In its press release, the EPA claimed the change would save the United States $1.3 trillion. Administrator Lee Zeldin further argued that the Obama and Biden administrations had used the endangerment finding “to push a left-wing wish list of expensive climate policies.”