The Trump administration has announced a plan to scrap a landmark finding that greenhouse gases are harmful to the environment, severely curbing the federal government’s ability to combat climate change.
Known as the “Endangerment Finding”, the 2009 order from then-President Barack Obama allowed the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to create rules to limit pollution by setting emissions standards.
The US is a major contributor to global climate change, and ranks second only to China which emits more planet-warming gases like carbon dioxide – and the US still emits more per person.
Experts have warned that the move could have a devastating impact on the environment.
President Donald Trump has long argued that climate regulations stifle US economic growth, and on his first day back in office in January ordered that the EPA submit recommendations “on the legality and continuing applicability” of the Endangerment Finding.
The Endangerment Finding stemmed from a 2007 Supreme Court case in which the court ruled that greenhouse gases are “air pollutants” – meaning that the EPA has the authority and responsibility to regulate them under the US Clean Air Act.
In 2009, the EPA made an official decision, the Endangerment Finding, which found that greenhouse gas emissions from sources such as cars, power plants and factories cause climate change and could pose a public health risk.
The decision forms the core of the federal government’s authority to impose limits on carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases.
In a statement, the EPA said that, if finalised, the move will save Americans $54bn (£40bn) in costs annually through the repeal of greenhouse gas standards, including an electric vehicle mandate passed by the Biden administration.
Speaking in an episode of the conservative “Ruthless” podcast released on Tuesday, EPA administrator Lee Zeldin said the move was “basically driving a dagger into the heart of the climate change religion”.
Zeldin said that emissions standards were a “distraction” and that the policy change was “an economic issue”. “Repealing it will be the largest deregulatory action in the history of America,” he said.
In a previous statement on reconsidering the findings in March, Zeldin said that “the Trump Administration will not sacrifice national prosperity, energy security, and the freedom of our people for an agenda that throttles our industries, our mobility, and our consumer choice while benefiting adversaries overseas.”
The new draft rule from the EPA will now go undergo a public comment period before being subject to an interagency review.
If it is successful, the rule will immediately revoke rules governing tailpipe emissions from vehicles.
According to the EPA statement, the revocation of those standards will begin with those set in 2010 for light-duty vehicles, as well as those set in 2011 for medium and heavy-duty vehicles and engines.
The EPA’s move is likely to face legal challenges, and some experts have questioned whether the administration’s decision will make it through the courts at all.
But Richard Revesz, the former administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Biden administration and a law professor at New York University, told the Washington Post that the announcement will still have an impact on US climate change policies until a final decision is made in the court system.
“If the endangerment finding fell, it would call into question essentially all or almost all of EPA’s regulation of greenhouse gases,” he said.
Also among those to condemn the announcement was California Governor Gavin Newsom, who in a joint statement with Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers accused the Trump administration of “reckless abandonment of science and the law.”
“Americans deserve to know the truth from the federal government about the climate crisis,” the statement said.
“No amount of buying research of firing scientists will change the facts: greenhouse gas pollution causes climate change and endangers our health and welfare – period,” it added.
(With additional reporting from Mark Poynting)