Latest news with #EndangermentFinding
France 24
an hour ago
- Automotive
- France 24
US to overturn foundational climate ruling on Tuesday
Appearing on the right-wing "Ruthless Podcast," Zeldin said: "Later today, we're going to be making a big announcement in Indiana" about the so-called Endangerment Finding of 2009, which concluded that greenhouse trapping gases from motor vehicles were a threat to public health and welfare. Zeldin accused the Environmental Protection Agency under former president Barack Obama of taking "mental leaps," when developing the finding based on overwhelming scientific consensus and peer-reviewed research. Agreeing with a podcast host who called the finding a "hub to the spoke of the left's environment agenda," Zeldin said: "This has been referred to as basically driving a dagger into the heart of the climate change religion." "Conservatives love the environment, want to be good stewards of the environment," he continued. But "there are people who then, in the name of climate change, are willing to bankrupt the country in the name of environmental justice." The transportation sector is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. The Endangerment Finding granted the EPA power to regulate emissions under the Clean Air Act and served as the legal backbone for a range of climate rules, extending beyond vehicles to power plant standards to methane limits on oil and gas operations. According to a recent analysis by the Natural Resources Defense Council, if it were a country, the US transportation sector would rank as the fourth largest emitter of greenhouse gases globally, while the power sector would be fifth. Dan Becker of the Center for Biological Diversity told AFP the Endangerment Finding has survived multiple legal challenges by industry over the years. "But this time, it's the government itself mounting the attack," he said. Environmental groups and states are expected to sue quickly. The legal battle could ultimately reach the Supreme Court, which would have to overturn its own 2007 ruling that paved the way for the Endangerment Finding. "Hopefully they will recognize that this is science and not politics -- that there was a good reason for that precedent and no good reason to revoke it," said Becker. "But this is a very political court." Since returning to office, Trump has withdrawn the United States from the Paris Agreement on global warming and launched a sweeping campaign to expand fossil fuel development, including new moves this week to open ecologically sensitive areas of Alaska to drilling. The announcement comes as the planet swelters under historic levels of warming. Tens of millions of Americans are baking under a brutal heat dome gripping the Southeast, while climate-fueled floods killed more than 100 people in Texas earlier this month.
BBC News
2 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
Trump administration set to scrap landmark finding that regulates carbon emission
The Trump administration is set to announce a plan to scrap a landmark finding that greenhouse gases are harmful to the environment, severely curbing the federal government's ability to combat climate change. Known as the "Endangerment Finding", the 2009 order from then-President Barack Obama allowed the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to create rules to limit pollution by setting emissions standards. The US is a major contributor to global climate change, and ranks second only to China which emits more planet-warming gases like carbon dioxide – and the US still emits more per have warned that the move could have a devastating impact on the environment. EPA administrator Lee Zeldin is expected to formally make the announcement at an event in Indiana alongside Governor Mike Braun on Tuesday Donald Trump has long argued that climate regulations stifle US economic growth, and on his first day back in office in January ordered that the EPA submit recommendations "on the legality and continuing applicability" of the Endangerment Endangerment Finding stemmed from a 2007 Supreme Court case in which the court ruled that greenhouse gases are "air pollutants" - meaning that the EPA has the authority and responsibility to regulate them under the US Clean Air Act. In 2009, the EPA made an official decision, the Endangerment Finding, which found that greenhouse gas emissions from sources such as cars, power plants and factories cause climate change and could pose a public health risk. The decision forms the core of the federal government's authority to impose limits on carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse in an episode of the conservative "Ruthless" podcast released on Tuesday, EPA administrator Zeldin said the move was "basically driving a dagger into the heart of the climate change religion".Zeldin said that emissions standards were a "distraction" and that the policy change was "an economic issue". "Repealing it will be the largest deregulatory action in the history of America," he said. In a previous statement on reconsidering the findings in March, Zeldin said that "the Trump Administration will not sacrifice national prosperity, energy security, and the freedom of our people for an agenda that throttles our industries, our mobility, and our consumer choice while benefiting adversaries overseas."The new draft rule from the EPA will now go undergo a public comment period before being subject to an interagency review. If it is successful, the rule will immediately revoke rules governing tailpipe emissions from vehicles. What is climate change? A really simple guideThe EPA's move is likely to face legal challenges, and some experts have questioned whether the administration's decision will make it through the courts at all. But Richard Revesz, the former administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Biden administration and a law professor at New York University, told the Washington Post that the announcement will still have an impact on US climate change policies until a final decision is made in the court system. "If the endangerment finding fell, it would call into question essentially all or almost all of EPA's regulation of greenhouse gases," he said. (With additional reporting from Mark Poynting)
New York Post
5 hours ago
- Automotive
- New York Post
Trump rolling back ‘trillion dollars' of Dem green car regulations
A trillion dollars worth of Obama-era greenhouse gas regulations for cars, trucks, and engines will be axed this year, along with the unpopular stop-start feature in vehicles, EPA boss Lee Zeldin plans to announce Tuesday. The EPA proposal to repeal the 2009 'Endangerment Finding' represents a major rollback of US climate action, and follows President Trump's Day One Executive Order, 'Unleashing American Energy.' It will be released for public comment before going into effect later this year. EPA boss Lee Zeldin is set to announce the proposal Tuesday. REUTERS 'With this proposal, the Trump EPA is proposing to end 16 years of uncertainty for automakers and American consumers,' said EPA Administrator Zeldin. 'Stakeholders have told me that the Obama and Biden EPAs twisted the law, ignored precedent, and warped science to . . . stick American families with hundreds of billions of dollars in hidden taxes every single year.' Zeldin claims the repeal will save Americans as much as $50 billion annually on cheaper cars by slashing greenhouse gas emissions standards on vehicles, including the Biden electric vehicle mandate. He was set to unveil the proposal in Indianapolis Tuesday with Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Indiana Governor Mike Braun, Attorney General Todd Rokita, Rep. Jim Baird, the Indiana Motor Truck Association, and the National Automobile Dealers Association. 'We heard loud and clear the concern that EPA's greenhouse gas emissions standards themselves, not carbon dioxide which the Finding never assessed independently, was the real threat to Americans' livelihoods,' said Zeldin. 'If finalized, rescinding the Endangerment Finding and resulting regulations would end $1 trillion or more in hidden taxes on American businesses and families.' The repeal of the Endangerment Finding likely will face fierce legal challenges from blue states and climate activists. Another obstacle is the fact that Congress codified greenhouse gases as pollutants in 2022 in the so-called Inflation Reduction Act.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Trump administration expected to say greenhouse gases aren't harmful
President Donald Trump's administration is preparing to upend a foundational scientific determination about the harms of greenhouse gases that underpins the US government's ability to curb climate change. A proposal from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to change the so-called " Endangerment Finding " was sent to the White House on June 30, a spokesperson told AFP. An announcement is expected imminently. Here's what to know -- and what's at stake if the finding is overturned. What is the Endangerment Finding? The Clean Air Act of 1970 empowered the EPA to regulate "air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare." For decades, the law applied to pollutants like lead, ozone and soot. But as climate science around the dangers of heat-trapping greenhouse gases advanced in the 2000s, a coalition of states and nonprofit groups petitioned the EPA to include them under the law, focusing on motor vehicles. The issue reached the Supreme Court, which in 2007 ruled that greenhouse gases qualify as air pollutants and directed the EPA to revisit its stance. That led to the 2009 Endangerment Finding, which declared greenhouse gases a threat to public health and welfare , based on overwhelming scientific consensus and peer-reviewed research. "That 2009 finding formed the basis for all of EPA's subsequent regulations," Meredith Hankins, a senior attorney on climate and energy for the activist Natural Resources Defense Council, told AFP. "They've issued greenhouse gas standards for tailpipe emissions from motor vehicles, smokestack emissions from power plants -- all of these individual rulemakings trace themselves back to the 2009 Endangerment Finding." What is the Trump administration doing? The Endangerment Finding has withstood multiple legal challenges, and although Trump's first administration considered reversing it, they ultimately held back. But the finding is now a direct target of Project 2025 , a far-right governance blueprint closely followed by the administration. In March, the EPA under Administrator Lee Zeldin announced a formal reconsideration of the finding. "The Trump Administration will not sacrifice national prosperity, energy security, and the freedom of our people for an agenda that throttles our industries, our mobility, and our consumer choice while benefiting adversaries overseas," he said. The government is expected to undo the earlier finding that greenhouse gases endanger public welfare. It will argue that the economic costs of regulation have been undervalued -- and downplay the role of US motor vehicle emissions in climate change. In fact, transportation is the largest source of US greenhouse gas emissions. "If vehicle emissions don't pass muster as a contribution to climate change, it's hard to imagine what would," Dena Adler of the Institute for Policy Integrity at New York University told AFP. "It's fatalistic to avoid taking the many actions that could cumulatively fix climate change, because none of them can individually solve the entire problem." Since 1970, the United States has emitted more vehicle-based greenhouse gases than the next nine countries combined, according to an analysis by the Institute for Policy Integrity that will soon be published in full. Could they succeed? In March, the EPA said it would lean on recent court rulings, including a landmark 2024 decision that narrowed federal regulatory power. Still, legal experts say the administration faces an uphill battle. "It will take a few years for the rule to be finalized and wind its way up to the Supreme Court for review," said Adler. "If EPA loses before the Supreme Court, it gets sent back, and EPA then gets it back to the drawing board" -- by which time Trump's term may be nearing its end. To succeed, the high court may need to overturn its own 2007 decision that led to the Endangerment Finding. None of the justices who wrote the majority opinion remain on the bench, while three dissenters -- John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito -- still serve, and could spearhead a drive to upend the original ruling. Even then, market forces may blunt the impact of any rollback. "Utilities making long-term investments and companies purchasing capital goods expected to be used for decades won't base those decisions on short-term policy changes," said John Tobin-de la Puente, a professor at Cornell University's business school. That's especially true when those swings run counter to business trends and could be undone by a future administration, he added.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Time of India
Trump administration expected to say greenhouse gases aren't harmful
President Trump's administration is poised to reverse the EPA's Endangerment Finding, a critical scientific basis for US climate regulations. This move, part of Project 2025, argues that the economic costs of climate regulation are too high and downplays the impact of US vehicle emissions. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads What is the Endangerment Finding? Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads What is the Trump administration doing? Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Could they succeed? President Donald Trump's administration is preparing to upend a foundational scientific determination about the harms of greenhouse gases that underpins the US government's ability to curb climate change.A proposal from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to change the so-called " Endangerment Finding " was sent to the White House on June 30, a spokesperson told announcement is expected imminently. Here's what to know -- and what's at stake if the finding is Clean Air Act of 1970 empowered the EPA to regulate "air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare."For decades, the law applied to pollutants like lead, ozone and as climate science around the dangers of heat-trapping greenhouse gases advanced in the 2000s, a coalition of states and nonprofit groups petitioned the EPA to include them under the law, focusing on motor issue reached the Supreme Court, which in 2007 ruled that greenhouse gases qualify as air pollutants and directed the EPA to revisit its led to the 2009 Endangerment Finding, which declared greenhouse gases a threat to public health and welfare , based on overwhelming scientific consensus and peer-reviewed research."That 2009 finding formed the basis for all of EPA's subsequent regulations," Meredith Hankins, a senior attorney on climate and energy for the activist Natural Resources Defense Council, told AFP."They've issued greenhouse gas standards for tailpipe emissions from motor vehicles, smokestack emissions from power plants -- all of these individual rulemakings trace themselves back to the 2009 Endangerment Finding."The Endangerment Finding has withstood multiple legal challenges, and although Trump's first administration considered reversing it, they ultimately held the finding is now a direct target of Project 2025 , a far-right governance blueprint closely followed by the March, the EPA under Administrator Lee Zeldin announced a formal reconsideration of the finding."The Trump Administration will not sacrifice national prosperity, energy security, and the freedom of our people for an agenda that throttles our industries, our mobility, and our consumer choice while benefiting adversaries overseas," he government is expected to undo the earlier finding that greenhouse gases endanger public will argue that the economic costs of regulation have been undervalued -- and downplay the role of US motor vehicle emissions in climate fact, transportation is the largest source of US greenhouse gas emissions."If vehicle emissions don't pass muster as a contribution to climate change, it's hard to imagine what would," Dena Adler of the Institute for Policy Integrity at New York University told AFP."It's fatalistic to avoid taking the many actions that could cumulatively fix climate change, because none of them can individually solve the entire problem."Since 1970, the United States has emitted more vehicle-based greenhouse gases than the next nine countries combined, according to an analysis by the Institute for Policy Integrity that will soon be published in March, the EPA said it would lean on recent court rulings, including a landmark 2024 decision that narrowed federal regulatory legal experts say the administration faces an uphill battle."It will take a few years for the rule to be finalized and wind its way up to the Supreme Court for review," said Adler."If EPA loses before the Supreme Court, it gets sent back, and EPA then gets it back to the drawing board" -- by which time Trump's term may be nearing its succeed, the high court may need to overturn its own 2007 decision that led to the Endangerment of the justices who wrote the majority opinion remain on the bench, while three dissenters -- John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito -- still serve, and could spearhead a drive to upend the original then, market forces may blunt the impact of any rollback."Utilities making long-term investments and companies purchasing capital goods expected to be used for decades won't base those decisions on short-term policy changes," said John Tobin-de la Puente, a professor at Cornell University's business especially true when those swings run counter to business trends and could be undone by a future administration, he added.
