The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under President Donald Trump‘s administration has proposed revoking a critical scientific finding that serves as the foundation for regulating greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Announced on Tuesday (July 29), the proposed rule aims to rescind the 2009 “endangerment finding,” which declared that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases pose a threat to public health and welfare.
This finding has been the legal basis for various climate regulations under the Clean Air Act, targeting emissions from motor vehicles, power plants, and other pollution sources. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, who initiated the proposal in March, described the move as part of a broader effort to roll back 31 key environmental rules, calling it “the greatest day of deregulation in American history.”
“A lot of people are out there listening, they might not know what the endangerment finding is. If you ask congressional Democrats to describe what it is, the left would say that it means that carbon dioxide is a pollutant, carbon dioxide is an endangerment to human health. They might say methane is a pollutant, methane is an endangerment to human health,” Zeldin said during an appearance on the Ruthless podcast.
The proposal has sparked criticism from former EPA leaders and environmental groups. Christine Todd Whitman, who led the EPA under President George W. Bush, argued that the repeal would endanger millions of Americans and contradict the agency’s mission to protect the environment and human health. Environmental groups, such as the Natural Resources Defense Council, have expressed doubt that the EPA could develop a new finding that would hold up in court, given the 2007 Supreme Court ruling affirming the agency’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases.
If finalized, the repeal could invalidate current limits on greenhouse gas pollution and hinder future administrations from implementing climate change regulations.
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