The Trump administration has announced the repeal of a scientific finding that greenhouse gas emissions endanger human health, while also eliminating vehicle emissions standards for cars and trucks.
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The climate change policy rollback follows a string of regulatory cuts by the administration which has made no secret of its anti-renewables agenda.
Trump has called climate change a “con job”, has withdrawn the United States from the Paris Agreement, renamed the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), and has also signed legislation to remove his predecessor Joe Biden’s tax credits, designed to accelerate deployment of electric vehicles and renewables.
“Under the process just completed by the EPA, we are officially terminating the so-called endangerment finding, a disastrous Obama-era policy that severely damaged the American auto industry and drove up prices for American consumers,” Trump said.
The endangerment finding was first adopted in 2009, and saw the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) take action to curb emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, and four other heat-trapping air pollutants.
Its repeal removes the regulatory requirements to measure, report, certify, and comply with federal greenhouse gas emission standards for cars.
Former President Barack Obama took to X to denounce the repeal, saying, “Today, the Trump administration repealed the endangerment finding: the ruling that served as the basis for limits on tailpipe emissions and power plant rules.
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“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.”
