Elaina Batista Asst. Social Media Editor
On Feb. 12, The Trump administration revoked the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ability to regulate climate pollution. By eliminating the endangerment finding, the administration will be able to quickly reverse other rules that decrease climate pollution from power plants and oil and gas activities, albeit this would require additional regulatory processes.
Stating, “We are officially terminating the so-called endangerment finding,” calling the policy “disastrous.” When asked at the White House what he would say to Americans who are concerned about the cost of his actions to public health, Trump claims that the repealing of the regulations has nothing to do with public health stating, “Don’t worry about it, because it has nothing to do with public health. This was all a scam, a giant scam.” And further stating that it “was a rip off of the country by Obama and Biden.”
The EPA endangerment finding was signed in 2009 during the Obama administration. It projected concentrations of six key greenhouse gases in the atmosphere as a “threat to the public health and welfare of current and future generations.”
Trump said that he believes that climate change is a “con job” and has also withdrawn the United States from the Paris Agreement.
Former President Obama posted on X about the endangerment finding, “Without it, we’ll be less safe, less healthy and less able to fight climate change — all so the fossil fuel industry can make even more money.”
White House EPA administrator Lee Zeldin explained that all greenhouse gas emissions regulations pertaining to light, medium and heavy-duty vehicles were in place after the endangerment determination was lifted. Stating, “No longer will automakers be pressured to shift their fleets towards electric vehicles.” The White House claims the move will save Americans roughly $2,400 on vehicles produced in the future.
Karoline Levitt, White House press secretary, claimed that the repeal will lower costs for Americans and would save the public around $1.3 trillion.
In an EPA press release Zeldin stated, “The Trump EPA has finalized the single largest act of deregulation in the history of the United States of America. Referred to by some as the holy grail of federal regulatory overreach, the 2009 Obama EPA endangerment finding is now eliminated.”
Former EPA administrator, Gina McCarthy, who served under the Biden administration called the actions of the Trump administration reckless. “This EPA would rather spend its time in court working for the fossil fuel industry than protecting us from pollution and the escalating impacts of climate change,” McCarthy stated.
Additionally, the American Lung Association and the American Public Health Association announced they would sue the administration, calling the regulatory appeal “unlawful.” Along with those two associations, President of Earthjustice Abbie Dillen, stated “The Trump administration is sacrificing our health, our safety, our economy, and our future by abandoning its core responsibility to keep us safe from extreme weather and accelerating climate change.”
The repeal is expected to face legal challenges, and its long-term impact will depend on how courts respond and how future administrations address climate-related regulations.