The Trump administration has reversed a landmark environmental finding that greenhouse gas emissions are a threat to public health, resulting in weakened standards on vehicle emissions.
The effort is the most aggressive action yet to undo rules imposed by Democratic presidents that environmentalists argue are key to curbing climate change but that Republicans say have harmed domestic industries and forced consumers into expensive electric vehicles.
President Donald Trump and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin announced at the White House Thursday that the agency has finalized a rule, proposed last year, that would repeal the 2009 Endangerment Finding, which concluded that six greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and methane pose a threat to public health and welfare. The repeal will immediately roll back emissions regulations for autos and will set the stage for further cuts to regulations on emissions from power plants and factors.
“The Endangerment Finding has been the source of 16 years of consumer choice restrictions and trillions of dollars in hidden costs for Americans,” Zeldin said in a press release.
“As EPA Administrator, I am proud to deliver the single largest deregulatory action in U.S. history on behalf of American taxpayers and consumers,” he said.
The 2009 Endangerment Finding was issued during the Obama administration in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Massachusetts v. EPA. affirming that greenhouse gas emissions are considered pollutants under the Clean Air Act. The finding has served as a legal basis for the EPA to regulate vehicles.
As part of the proposal to repeal the Endangerment Finding, the EPA has also finalized a rule to eliminate tailpipe emission standards for light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles and engines.
The emission standards were implemented by the Biden administration, which gave auto manufacturers several options to meet emission targets, including by producing electric vehicles, hybrids, or advanced technology vehicles.
Cars and trucks are the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.
The Trump administration has sought to repeal policies imposed by the Biden administration that promote electric vehicle adoption, which the Trump team has derided as an “EV mandate.” For instance, the administration has repealed an arrangement that allowed California impose its own emissions regulations and eventually ban sales of gas cars. It also repealed subsidies for consumer purchases of electric vehicles.
The EPA rule does not directly regulate other pollutants, but the EPA has used the finding to justify regulating emissions from fossil fuel sources like power plants and oil and gas drilling. The repeal of the finding aligns with the administration’s support for fossil fuel energy sources, while shifting away from renewable energy.
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Environmentalists and Democrat-led states have vowed to challenge the rescission of the finding. They will argue that the Supreme Court has already affirmed that the Clean Air Act requires the EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.