Trump revokes greenhouse gas health findings, cancels emissions standards

The administration of US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday (February 12) the revocation of scientific findings that greenhouse gas emissions are harmful to human health, along with the cancellation of vehicle exhaust emissions standards for cars and trucks, Reuters reported.

This move marks the largest cancellation of climate change policy by this administration to date, following the removal of regulations and actions aimed at promoting fossil fuel development while hindering the growth of clean energy.

“Under the process just completed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), we are officially terminating the so-called endangerment finding, a disastrous Obama-era policy that severely damaged the American auto industry and drove up prices for American consumers,” Trump said, adding that it was the biggest deregulatory action in US history.

The EPA issued a statement explaining that the findings regarding the danger of greenhouse gases were based on an incorrect interpretation of federal clean air laws, which are designed primarily to protect Americans from harmful local or regional pollution, rather than addressing global climate change.

“This flawed legal theory took the agency outside the scope of its statutory authority in multiple respects,” it said.