The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday revoked the Obama-era "endangerment finding" that has served as the scientific and legal basis for U.S. regulation of greenhouse gas emissions and other climate change-related initiatives.
A new EPA rule officially rescinds the 2009 scientific finding that determined carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare.
That government declaration has served as the legal basis for nearly all climate regulations under the Clean Air Act for motor vehicles and other pollution sources like power plants, planes, and oil and gas operations.
Trump announced the decision at the White House on Thursday, saying, "This determination had no basis in fact whatsoever."
"This is a big one if you're into environment," he told reporters on Thursday of the new EPA rule. "This is about as big as it gets."
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin first announced plans to revoke the endangerment finding back in July. At the time, he said the move would be "the largest act of deregulation in the history of the United States."
“There are people, who in the name of climate change, are willing to bankrupt the country,” he said.
The EPA said in a press release at the time that the new rule would “repeal all resulting greenhouse gas emissions regulations for motor vehicles and engines, thereby reinstating consumer choice and giving Americans the ability to purchase a safe and affordable car for their family while decreasing the cost of living on all products that trucks deliver.”
The agency received half a million comments on the proposal.
The EPA has said overturning the endangerment finding could save Americans $1.3 trillion.
White House press secretary Karoline Levitt similarly said the move would lower costs for Americans, particularly by making new vehicles cheaper. She predicted an average savings of more than $2,400 on a light-duty car, truck or SUV.
The endangerment finding was handed down by the Obama EPA in response to a 2007 Supreme Court ruling in Massachusetts v. EPA that greenhouse gases are a form of air pollution that can be regulated under the Clean Air Act. At the time, the Court left the EPA to make a scientific finding about whether the gases harm public health.
The government declaration that followed was called the “endangerment finding” as it found the greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare, and therefore can be regulated under the Clean Air Act.
The administration’s new rule is likely to face legal challenges from environmental activists, who argue the update is a gift to “billionaire polluters.”
"This action is unlawful, ignores basic science, and denies reality. We know greenhouse gases cause climate change and endanger our communities and our health — and we will not stop fighting to protect the American people from pollution," said California Governor Gavin Newsom and Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers in a joint statement. The pair co-chair a bipartisan coalition of governors called the U.S. Climate Alliance.
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