Trump administration plans ‘largest deregulatory action in American history’ that will upend decades of climate policy in one fell swoop

The Environmental Protection Agency is planning to repeal the legal framework it uses to control greenhouse gas emissions. The administration is calling this the largest deregulatory action in American history. It means decades of climate policy could soon be wiped out in one dramatic move.

According to NBC News, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that President Trump will be joined by Administrator Lee Zeldin to formally repeal the 2009 Obama-era endangerment finding. Leavitt said this massive change will save the American people $1.3 trillion in regulations. The claim shows how serious the administration is about rolling back environmental controls.

The endangerment finding is the legal foundation that lets the EPA regulate emissions under the Clean Air Act. The 2009 decision stated that gases like carbon dioxide and methane are heating up the Earth and posing a threat to public health and welfare. By reversing that conclusion, the EPA loses the legal basis for rules that set emissions standards for cars and trucks and require fossil fuel companies to report their pollution.

This repeal could reshape American environmental policy for generations

If this repeal survives court challenges, huge changes to the American regulatory landscape are expected. The move is expected to overturn most US policies aimed at reducing climate pollution. The EPA has already looked at removing all greenhouse gas emissions standards for motor vehicles. Leavitt suggested this would reduce the costs of cars, SUVs, and trucks for consumers.

Administrator Zeldin has already proposed repealing carbon dioxide standards for power plants. He has promised the EPA will reconsider other policies that rely on the endangerment finding, including methane regulations. Zeldin previously stated that he would drive “a dagger through the heart of climate-change religion.” This aggressive approach mirrors the administration’s recent threats regarding the Detroit-Canada bridge project.

The EPA is justifying this move by claiming the 2009 decision “unreasonably analyzed the scientific record.” They argue the original science was too negative about projected warming and failed to account for benefits of increased carbon pollution, like promoting plant growth. They also point to the Supreme Court ruling in West Virginia v. EPA, which narrowed the agency’s power to shift energy production away from coal plants.

Major scientific and environmental groups are disputing those claims. Manish Bapna, the president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council, called the expected repeal “the single biggest attack in U.S. history on federal authority to tackle the climate crisis.” He noted that removing the finding is denying the existence of climate change, even as people suffer from increasing disasters like heat waves, floods, and fires.

Scientists are pushing back hard. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine concluded that the original endangerment finding was accurate and still holds up. A nonprofit scientific society stated that the EPA’s draft presented “inaccurate and cherry-picked” information. 

A group of 85 climate scientists submitted a point-by-point rebuttal of a controversial Energy Department report that the EPA relied on, writing that it “exhibits pervasive problems with misrepresentation.” Environmental groups have promised to fight the EPA “every step of the way” in court. The administration’s approach to foreign policy regarding West Bank annexation shows similar patterns of controversial policy decisions.