With average temperatures increasing over the past 35 years and the U.S. warming at a faster rate than the rest of the globe, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) addressed climate change with 2009's Endangerment Finding. As part of the Clean Air Act, it sought to reduce pollution and encourage greener sources of energy. The Endangerment Finding is now itself in danger.
Claiming that the EPA rule was "twisted science," EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced on July 29, 2025, that the agency intends to repeal the landmark Endangerment Finding. If the new rule is finalized, it will remove the existing greenhouse gas emission regulations for all motor vehicles and certain other industries. The announcement was made on a conservative radio show, where Zeldin stated that he was "driving a dagger into the heart of the climate change religion."
Environmentalists, predicting a significant upswing in pollution that includes harmful greenhouse gases, blasted the move as expensive, dangerous, and destructive. The July announcement follows the March announcement that the rule would be examined, hailed by the current EPA as "the greatest and most consequential day of deregulation in the history of the United States."
Is It Getting Hot in Here?
While some people vehemently deny the existence of climate change, the facts are difficult, or even impossible, to dismiss plausibly. The planet's average temperature has risen at a rate scientists believe to be unprecedented, with greenhouse gases cited as a major factor.
Greenhouse gases can come from natural sources, but people are directly responsible for almost all of the increases in greenhouse gases in our atmosphere over the past century and a half. These gases get trapped in our planet's atmosphere and cause the temperature to rise. The rapid shrinking of the polar ice caps is attributed to the effects of greenhouse gases.
Much like the way concern over holes in the Earth's protective ozone layer was handled through regulations and bans, nations began passing laws addressing the emission of greenhouse gases. Many focused on transportation and energy industries, long identified as high-volume polluters.
The emergence of electric cars as viable modes of transportation in the United States can be linked to the Endangerment Finding, also known as the Endangerment and Cause or Contribute Findings for Greenhouse Gases Under Section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act; Final Rule. Released on December 15, 2009, laid out rules and regulations addressing, among other environmental concerns, greenhouse gases. The body of scientific evidence included major assessments from the U.S. Global Climate Research Program (USGCRP), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and the National Research Council (NRC).
Is "Environmental Protection Agency" a Misnomer?
The repeal of the Endangerment Finding would remove the EPA's statutory authority under Section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) to make any regulations for greenhouse gas emissions. Zeldin, an attorney and former congressman who holds no scientific degrees, declared that the EPA's greenhouse gases policy was "a threat to Americans' livelihoods." He asserted that repealing the Endangerment Finding would end $1 trillion in "hidden taxes" for businesses and families, although no proof was supplied at the time of his statement.
Zeldin's targeting of the Endangerment Finding is part of the Trump administration's adherence to the Heritage Society's Project 2025. He considers renewable sources of energy part of the "Green New Scam" and promises to protect the environment while scrapping regulations against industries that have historically proven to create massive amounts of pollution, including greenhouse gases. With oceans heating up, ice flows vanishing, and natural disasters increasing in both frequency and intensity, much may hinge on the outcome.
Related Resources
- Skies Darken for the EPA's Authority (FindLaw's Supreme Court)
- SCOTUS Chooses To Keep Things Local on Clean Air Act Decisions (FindLaw's Federal Courts)
- Clean Water Act Summary (FindLaw's Law Library)
