Trump to rescind ‘holy grail’ climate change regulation

The Trump administration this week will repeal the 2009 endangerment finding that the federal government has used for decades to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, White House officials said.

The landmark 2009 Endangerment Finding is arguably one of the most powerful tools the government has used to cut emissions from the American energy and transportation sectors. President Trump now plans to eliminate it, paving the way for achieving his goal of deregulation and increased U.S. energy production.

“This week at the White House, President Trump will be taking the most significant deregulatory actions in history to further unleash American energy dominance and drive down costs,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

EPA Director Lee Zeldin began reconsidering the finding in March. The final rule rescinding is expected this week.

The scientific finding was established early in President Obama’s first term and designated six greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and methane, as hazards to public health. It noted that emissions from motor vehicles specifically endanger public health.

It became known as “the holy grail of climate change religion” because of the extensive authority it provided the federal government to regulate U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Revoking the finding would directly impact the government’s regulation of tailpipe emissions.

According to an administration official, the final rule rescinding the endangerment finding would not cover emissions from stationary sources, such as power plants and oil-and-gas facilities, but repealing the finding could provide an avenue to rolling back those regulations.

In July, Mr. Zeldin announced a draft proposal that would remove all greenhouse gas standards for cars and trucks, including heavy-duty vehicles and engines, beginning with the 2010 and 2011 Obama-era regulations.

Mr. Zeldin said it would end the government’s regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from vehicle tailpipes and save businesses and individuals $1 trillion over the next 10 years.

The rescission would end stringent new tailpipe emission caps finalized under the Biden administration that would force automakers to shift from producing gas-powered models to primarily electric vehicles by 2030.

The Biden administration said the caps were needed to significantly cut carbon emissions from America’s vehicles, which environmental groups say are the source of 28% of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

Car manufacturers have struggled to comply with increasingly strict tailpipe emissions caps. They’ve produced more EVs, but the cars have sat on dealer lots as consumers gravitated toward hybrids or less expensive, and arguably more reliable, gas-powered vehicles.

Rescinding the endangerment finding is among dozens of moves by the Trump administration aimed at deregulating the U.S. economy and promoting energy production.

The move is expected to face lawsuits from environmental groups, who have protested the Trump administration’s deregulation.

“This so-called endangerment finding underpins all other regulations on climate pollution under the Clean Air Act, and experts say that repealing it would be a massive blow to efforts to rein in this pollution and slow down planetary heating,” the Sierra Club said.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, New York Democrat, called the move “radical,” and said American communities would suffer for it with worsening storms, droughts and fires.

“It will hurt kids with asthma. It will hurt homeowners and destabilize insurance markets as extreme weather gets worse, and it will send shockwaves across the economy,” Mr. Schumer said.