EPA Moves to Rescind a Major Key in Climate Regulation

President Trump's administration on Tuesday proposed revoking a scientific finding that has long been the central basis for US action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change. The proposed Environmental Protection Agency rule rescinds a 2009 declaration that determined that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare, reports the AP. The "endangerment finding" is the legal underpinning of a host of climate regulations under the Clean Air Act for motor vehicles, power plants, and other pollution sources that are heating the planet. The repeal "will be the largest deregulatory action in the history of America," EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced on the Ruthless podcast ahead of an official announcement Tuesday in Indiana.

Zeldin called for a rewrite of the endangerment finding in March as part of environmental rollbacks that Zeldin called "the greatest day of deregulation in American history.'' A total of 31 key environmental rules on everything from clean air and clean water to climate change would be rolled back or repealed under Zeldin's plan. He singled out the endangerment finding as "the holy grail of the climate change religion" and said he was thrilled to end it "as the EPA does its part to usher in the golden age of American success.'' More:

• Tailpipe emissions: The EPA also called for rescinding limits on tailpipe emissions designed to encourage automakers to build more electric vehicles. The transportation sector is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the US. Three former EPA heads, including Christine Todd Whitman, who led the EPA under GOP President George W. Bush, have taken issue with Zeldin's move.
• Getting through the courts: David Doniger, a climate expert at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said it was virtually "impossible to think that the EPA could develop a contradictory finding [to the 2009 standard] that would stand up in court." Doniger and other critics accused Trump's administration of using a potential repeal of the endangerment finding as a "kill shot'' that would allow him to make all climate regulations invalid. If finalized, repeal of the endangerment finding would erase current limits on greenhouse gas pollution from cars, factories, power plants, and other sources and could prevent future administrations from proposing rules to tackle climate change.