The Trump administration on Thursday rolled back federal regulations restricting greenhouse gas emissions, repealing a landmark 2009 finding on global warming and sparking outrage.
“Under the process just completed by the EPA, we are officially terminating the so-called endangerment finding,” President Donald Trump announced at the White House with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, who hailed the reversal as the “single largest deregulatory action in U.S. history.”
“Referred to by some as the Holy Grail of the ‘climate change religion,’ the endangerment finding is now eliminated,” Zeldin declared. “The Trump EPA is strictly following the letter of the law, returning common sense to policy, delivering consumer choice to Americans and advancing the American dream.”
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, denounced the administration’s action, saying on X, “This shameful abdication — an economic, moral, and political failure — will harm Americans’ health, homes, and economic well-being.”
The “endangerment finding” from former President Barack Obama’s first year in office defined several gases in the atmosphere, including carbon dioxide and methane, as substances that “threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations.” The conclusion became the basis for standards set for automotive and fossil fuel companies. The decision has already been met with fierce criticism, particularly from environmental groups, and is expected to be legally challenged.
Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter and producer for MS NOW. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian. Recommended
