The Trump administration is drafting a measure that would revoke the federal government’s power to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions and combat climate change. The plan was first reported Tuesday, July 22, by The New York Times, citing two people familiar with the proposal.
The plan would create an Environmental Protection Agency rule that repeals a 2009 declaration known as the “endangerment finding,” which established that greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane are a deadly threat to humans.
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What is the ‘endangerment finding?’
The endangerment finding is the basis for the U.S. government’s only method to restrict emission pollution from vehicles, power plants and fossil fuel industries that are considered major contributors to climate change.
The new EPA rule, which reportedly may be made public within a matter of days, also aims to eliminate limits on tailpipe emissions that were implemented to incentivize automakers to build and sell more electric vehicles.
Those limits were established because of the endangerment finding and were key to the Biden administration’s promotion of EVs rather than gasoline-powered vehicles. The transportation industry is responsible for most greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.
The Trump administration’s argument against the finding
Two people familiar with the plan told The Times that the EPA will argue that pollution restrictions on automakers pose a threat to human health by leading to more expensive vehicles and fewer choices for consumers. The Times’ sources requested to remain anonymous, citing they were unauthorized to discuss the draft plan.
A spokesperson for the EPA, Molly Vaseliou, would not disclose details of the plan. In a statement to The Times, she confirmed the EPA did submit a draft proposal to the White House on Monday, June 30. The proposal “will be published for public notice and comment once it has completed interagency review and been signed by the Administrator,” the statement said.
CNN reported that the plan could still be changed before a final version is released.
If the White House succeeds in revoking the endangerment finding, it would reportedly rescind all current restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, factories, power plants and other fossil fuel polluters. Critics warn it may also stop future presidential administrations from attempting to circumvent the harmful impacts of climate change.
Reaction to potential change
Since returning to the White House in January, President Donald Trump has scaled back U.S. initiatives aimed at combating climate change. He has also revoked practically every federal government policy targeting greenhouse gases, such as those released from the burning of oil, gas and coal. The Trump administration has also pushed for ramped-up production and consumption of fossil fuels while limiting the expansion of renewable energy and electric vehicles.
“The White House is trying to turn back the clock and re-litigate both the science and the law,” Vicki Patton, general counsel for the Environmental Defense Fund, told The Times. She said scientific findings showing climate change is harmful to humans and the planet are “overwhelming and incontrovertible.”
The EPA’s draft proposal to rescind the endangerment finding does not dispute that greenhouse gases are warming the planet, The Times reported. However, it relies on the argument that the EPA exceeded its legal power under the Clean Air Act when it declared that greenhouse gas emissions threaten public health.
Joseph Goffman, who headed the air office at the EPA under former President Joe Biden, said if the proposal is implemented, it would be subject to legal action. He said the draft proposal violates a 2007 Supreme Court ruling that greenhouse gases should be considered pollutants under the Clean Air Act.
Richard Revesz, a former Biden administration official who now works as a New York University environmental law professor, echoed Goffman’s sentiment.
“Legally, it’s misguided and creates enormous harm to the American people,” he told CNN.
