Trump EPA Repeals Endangerment Finding, Abandoning Responsibility to Protect Americans from Climate Pollution
By repealing the endangerment finding, EPA is rejecting settled law and science to benefit polluters
Contacts
Alexandria Trimble, atrimble@earthjustice.org
Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized its repeal of the endangerment finding and the rollback of climate emissions standards for light, medium, and heavy-duty vehicles.
In response to the announcement, Earthjustice President Abigail Dillen issued the following statement:
“The Trump administration is sacrificing our health, our safety, our economy, and our future by abandoning its core responsibility to keep us safe from extreme weather and accelerating climate change. The courts have repeatedly affirmed EPA’s obligation to clean up climate pollution. There is no way to reconcile EPA’s decision with the law, the science, and the reality of disasters that are hitting us harder every year. This is a slap in the face for all of the millions of Americans who are experiencing the devastating costs of extreme heat, wildfires, flooding, and storms. Earthjustice and our partners will see the Trump administration in court.”
Background on the Endangerment Finding:
In the 2007 landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision Massachusetts vs. EPA, the court found that carbon pollution and other climate-warming pollutants (greenhouse gases) are “air pollutants” as defined by the Clean Air Act. The court directed the EPA to make a final scientific determination whether these pollutants endanger health or welfare.
In 2009, the EPA determined that climate pollutants from vehicles do endanger public health and welfare, and EPA has repeatedly reaffirmed that pollution from emissions from vehicles, power plants, oil and gas operations, contribute to that danger.
The EPA’s endangerment finding has been challenged in court by big oil and gas companies, fossil fuel producers, and groups like the American Petroleum Institute and Competitive Enterprise Institute. The D.C. Circuit of Appeals upheld the finding based on the overwhelming scientific evidence supporting it. The Supreme Court denied an additional review. Earthjustice was part of the team that successfully defended the endangerment finding against fossil fuel industry challenges in 2013-14.
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