Environmental groups say ‘cynical and devastating’ reversal of endangerment finding has grave implications
The Trump administration has dismantled the basis for all US climate regulations, in its most confrontational anti-environment move yet.
The 2009 endangerment finding determined that greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare and should therefore be controlled by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). By revoking it on Thursday, officials eliminated the legal foundation enabling the government to control planet-heating pollution.
Trump said the rollback constituted “the single largest deregulatory action in American history”, while EPA secretary Lee Zeldin said it would end “the holy grail of federal regulatory overreach”.
“The endangerment finding, and the regulations that were based on it, didn’t just regulate emissions,” said Zeldin. “It regulated and targeted the American dream.”
