EPA Abdicates on Climate Change by Moving to Nix Endangerment Finding

In response to an executive order from President Donald Trump, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin recommended striking down the agency's 2009 finding that climate change endangers human health and welfare, according to published reports.

The move comes as more and more climate-fueled disasters are harming people and communities across the nation. In just the last year, catastrophic fires wiped out whole neighborhoods in Los Angeles; temperatures in Phoenix were over 100 degrees Fahrenheit for a record 143 days; and Hurricane Helene’s torrential rainfall devastated western North Carolina.

The following is a statement from David Doniger, senior strategist and attorney for Climate & Energy at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council):

“In the face of catastrophic and deadly climate disasters all across America—wildfires, heat waves, hurricanes, and more—the Trump administration is telling the country’s oil, gas, and coal magnates that they are free to keep spewing dangerous pollution into the atmosphere.

“This decision ignores science and the law. Fifteen years ago, the EPA determined that climate pollution endangers our health and well-being. The Denali-sized mountain of scientific evidence behind that decision has only grown to Mount Everest–size since then. The courts have repeatedly upheld the EPA’s legal authority and its scientific conclusions.

“Abdicating the EPA’s clear legal duty to curb climate-changing pollution only makes sense if you consider who would benefit: the oil, coal, and gas magnates who handed the president millions of dollars in campaign contributions. This is the clearest example of the Trump administration putting polluters over people, and that’s saying a lot.

“If the Trump EPA proceeds down this path and jettisons the obvious finding that climate change is a threat to our health and welfare, it will mean more polluted air and more catastrophic extreme weather for Americans. We will see them in court.”

Background

For more information on the legal issues around the endangerment finding, please see this blog by David Doniger.

Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA is legally required to limit the emissions of any “air pollutant” that the agency determines “causes or contributes to air pollution that may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare.” In 2007, the Supreme Court held in Massachusetts v. EPA that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases unambiguously are “air pollutants” under the Clean Air Act.

The Supreme Court then ordered the EPA to decide, based on the science, whether greenhouse gases endanger health or welfare. In 2009, the EPA established, based on detailed scientific data, that greenhouse gas emissions pose a threat to human health and welfare. Based on that determination, it established emissions standards for vehicles, power plants, and oil and gas operations over the ensuing years.