Trump's EPA to repeal finding that climate pollution endangers human health
WASHINGTON ‒ The Environmental Protection Agency will rescind the long-standing finding that greenhouse gas emissions endanger human health, as well as tailpipe emission standards for vehicles, setting off what it describes as the largest deregulatory action in U.S. history.
Republican President Donald Trump's pick to run the EPA, Lee Zeldin, announced the agency's plan to rescind the "endangerment finding" on the Ruthless podcast on July 29, saying it will save Americans money and unravel two decades of regulation aimed at reducing carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases from cars, power plants, oil production and other sources.
In 2009, the EPA under former Democratic President Barack Obama issued a finding that emissions from new motor vehicles contribute to pollution and endanger public health and welfare. It was upheld in several legal challenges and underpinned subsequent greenhouse gas regulations.
"With regard to the endangerment finding, they’ll say carbon dioxide is a pollutant and that’s the end of it. They’ll never acknowledge any type of benefit or need for carbon dioxide," Zeldin told the podcast. "It’s important to note, and they don’t, how important it is for the planet."
Reuters reported last week that the EPA plans to repeal all greenhouse gas emission standards for light-duty, medium-duty, and heavy-duty vehicles and engines in the coming days after it removes the scientific finding that justified those rules, according to a summary.
It is also expected to justify rescinding the endangerment finding by casting doubt on the scientific record used to make the finding, saying that "developments cast significant doubt on the reliability of the findings," the summary seen by Reuters says.
The Supreme Court, in its landmark Massachusetts v. EPA case in 2007, said the EPA has authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and required the agency to make a scientific finding on whether they endanger public health.
If finalized, this action will devastate the EPA’s ability to carry out its primary authority to limit climate pollution under the federal Clean Air Act.
Environmental activists immediately condemned the announcement.
“As if any doubt remained, the Trump Administration has formalized climate denial as the official policy of the United States government," said Sierra Club Acting Executive Director Loren Blackford in a statement. "If approved, rescinding the endangerment finding would strike a decisive blow to the EPA’s authority to limit deadly greenhouse gas emissions and protect our people and our planet from the very worst of the climate crisis. Nearly every single day we see increased incidents of extreme weather, record heatwaves, deadly floods and droughts all threatening our lives and communities ‒ all of which are the undeniable result of greenhouse gas emissions.
“The Trump administration is again taking a sledgehammer to the very foundation of our government and settled law, and doing so only to the benefit of corporate polluters while we pay the price."
Zeldin said he will make the formal announcement on the afternoon of July 29 in Indiana.
Contributing: Ben Adler