WASHINGTON - The Environmental Protection Agency will rescind the long-standing finding that greenhouse gas emissions endanger human health, as well as tailpipe emission standards for vehicles, setting off what it describes as the largest deregulatory action in U.S. history.
Republican President Donald Trump's pick to run the EPA Lee Zeldin announced the agency's plan to rescind the "endangerment finding" on the Ruthless podcast on Tuesday, saying it will save Americans money and unravel two decades of regulation aimed at reducing carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases from cars, power plants, oil production and other sources.
In 2009, the EPA under former Democratic President Barack Obama issued a finding that emissions from new motor vehicles contribute to pollution and endanger public health and welfare. It was upheld in several legal challenges and underpinned subsequent greenhouse gas regulations.
"With regard to the endangerment finding, they’ll say carbon dioxide is a pollutant and that’s the end of it. They’ll never acknowledge any type of benefit or need for carbon dioxide," Zeldin told the podcast. "It’s important to note, and they don’t, how important it is for the planet."
