President Donald Trump has repealed the Environmental Protection Agency’s long-standing “endangerment finding,” eliminating the legal foundation for federal regulations targeting greenhouse gas emissions, the USA Today network writes.
The Obama-era determination, finalized in 2009, concluded that six key greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare and gave the EPA authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate emissions from vehicles and other sources.
The Trump administration framed the repeal as a historic deregulatory move, projecting $1.3 trillion in reduced regulatory costs and lower vehicle prices. EPA officials argue the finding enabled costly policies that burdened industries, particularly automakers and accelerated a shift toward electric vehicles.
Environmental and public health groups sharply criticized the decision and signaled imminent legal challenges, warning it undermines decades of climate science and weakens protections against pollution-driven health risks. The move is widely viewed as a major victory for fossil fuel and freight interests—and a significant turning point for U.S. climate and energy policy.
