EPA floats ending ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wants to eliminate the government’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced that he will roll back the 2009 endangerment finding, which was a key mechanism for Democratic administrations to fight climate change. 

Speaking at the Palmer Trucks company in Indianapolis on Tuesday, July 29, Zeldin called the move the “largest deregulatory action in the history of the United States.” He added that the EPA is fulfilling “the will of the American public” by proposing to eliminate the underlying decision that allowed the agency to create vehicle emissions standards, which he said make cars more expensive.

“We will follow the law,” Zeldin said, citing recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings including West Virginia v. EPA, in which the court limited federal agencies’ ability to interpret acts of Congress and create sweeping regulations. 

The EPA proposal is the latest attempt to cut rules that the Trump administration says are costing American businesses and consumers. The agency recently moved to roll back regulations on mercury and air toxins from power plants. In going after the endangerment finding, the EPA is undercutting previous efforts to lower greenhouse gas emissions that scientists say contribute to destabilizing climate change.

What is the “endangerment finding?”

The Obama-era decision relies on the 1970 Clean Air Act. The 2009 EPA endangerment finding stated that greenhouse gases, including methane and carbon dioxide, “may reasonably be anticipated to endanger the public health and welfare of current and future generations” through climate change impacts. Those impacts include heatwaves, extreme weather events, and worsening air quality.

As a result of the finding, the EPA began making rules to limit emissions from light and heavy-duty vehicles, power plants, oil and gas operations and landfills. The decision came in response to a 2007 Supreme Court ruling in Massachusetts v. EPA, in which the court compelled the agency to oversee greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. 

The 2022 West Virginia ruling, which Zeldin cited, did not overturn the 2007 decision. Moreover, Congress clarified in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act that the EPA has the power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

“The Endangerment Finding is built on a rock-solid scientific foundation that has gotten even stronger over time,” said Fred Krupp, president of the nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund, in a press release.

Zeldin, on the other hand, said previous administrations made “many, many mental leaps” in writing and applying the endangerment finding. By eliminating the finding and subsequent vehicle emissions standards, Zeldin said the agency would “protect and bring back American auto jobs.”

What is the reaction to the EPA’s announcement?

At the press conference, President of the Indiana Motor Truck Association Gary Langston joined the chorus applauding Zeldin’s decision. Langston said regulations that pushed for the trucking industry to use electric trucks ignored the “economic and operational realities of trucking.” 

Langston said that a rule from the EPA under President Joe Biden “put our industry on a path to economic ruin.” The rule does not ban conventional engines, but it does require the trucking industry to use electric vehicles for an increasing percentage of new trucks added to company’s fleets starting in 2027.

Environmental groups criticized Zeldin’s announcement as regressive, citing the dangers of climate change. 

“Americans are already suffering from stronger hurricanes, more severe heat waves and floods, and more frequent fires,” Krupp said, adding that the Trump administration is attempting to eliminate “vital tools” to protect against pollution.

Dan Becker, a campaign director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said Trump is “putting fealty to Big Oil over sound science and people’s health.”

What happens next?

The EPA is following a legal process to change rules which includes a public comment period to collect feedback on the decision. Zeldin said the public comment period will last 45 days, after which the agency will issue a final rule.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright also spoke at the press conference about a new report on climate change from the Department of Energy. Wright said the report underwent an “internal review” that included scientists at the DOE science division and national laboratories.

The report is now available online, and Wright said the public, including scientists from around the world, will now have a chance to review it. Prior to publication, the report had not been reviewed by any scientists outside of the federal government. 

Wright said he wants to “end the cancel culture, Orwellian reality we’ve been in where climate change is not treated as a serious science,” but instead used as a political talking point.