Trump revokes EPA endangerment finding on greenhouse gas emissions
Plumes of smoke from the Hugh L. Spurlock Generating Station are seen in Maysville, Kentucky, on June 12, 2025.
Jeff Swensen | Getty Images
The Trump administration on Thursday rescinded a landmark scientific finding that served as the legal basis for federal regulations to limit greenhouse gas emissions, dealing a devastating blow to efforts to combat climate change.
Environmental Protection Agency finding of dangerEstablished in 2009 under President Barack Obama, it classifies carbon dioxide, methane and four other greenhouse gases as threats to public health and well-being.
It forms the basis of regulations under the Clean Air Act. emission standards rules for cars and light trucks, power plants, and oil and gas industry facilities.
“As part of the process just completed by the EPA, we are officially finalizing the so-called finding of danger,” President Donald Trump said in a statement at the White House alongside EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. he said.
The finding of danger arose from a 2007 Supreme Court ruling that greenhouse gases were air pollutants under the Clean Air Act and that EPA must determine whether they pose a threat to public health.
Zeldin’s decision to rescind the finding is the most significant action taken so far in the Trump administration’s campaign to dismantle US regulations on climate change. The White House called the repeal the largest act of deregulation in American history.
Sierra ClubThe Trump administration has formalized “climate denialism as official government policy,” the largest US environmental group said.
He warned that eliminating greenhouse gas standards would not only endanger the public but also expose industries to a barrage of lawsuits. The Supreme Court made a decision unanimous decision In 2011, companies could not be sued under federal common law over greenhouse gas emissions because regulation of those emissions had been delegated to the EPA.
Trump has sought to deregulate fossil fuel production in the United States and halt the Biden administration’s efforts to transition to renewable energy and electric vehicles. He withdrew the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement and eliminated major tax subsidies for solar, wind and electric vehicles.
