EPA Unravels Climate Protections

WASHINGTON, D.C. – After a year of deadly floods, devastating wildfires, excruciating heat waves, and a growing number of unnatural disasters, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) made the incomprehensible determination that it does not have the legal authority to address climate change. 

Today the Trump EPA rescinded the 2009 endangerment finding that determined that climate pollution is a threat to public health and welfare and is core to much of the climate policy that followed. In addition, the agency eliminated the clean vehicle standards, which were set to deliver the single biggest cut to U.S. carbon pollution in history.

As the National Academies of Science determined in its report last September, the EPA’s endangerment finding “was accurate, has stood the test of time, and is now reinforced by even stronger evidence.”

The following is a statement from Manish Bapna, president & CEO of NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council):

“This cynical and devastating action by the Trump EPA will not go forward without a fight. We will see them in court—and we will win. 

“This is the single biggest attack in history on the federal government’s efforts to tackle the climate crisis. Nearly 20 years after the Supreme Court confirmed the EPA’s authority to act, the Trump EPA is leaving American families on their own to deal with the consequences. 

“With millions of Americans facing stronger storms, hotter heat waves, and more dangerous wildfires, the Trump administration is trying to pretend it’s all a hoax and there’s nothing to be done about it. But the impacts of climate change are right here, right now. 

“This decision will mean more unnatural disasters—from extreme storms to deadly heat—hurting people nationwide. The EPA should be working to protect all Americans—not giving a free pass to oil billionaires.

“The EPA is also gutting the clean vehicles rules. This is not only bad for the climate, it is bad news for car buyers. It will make new cars and trucks more expensive, adding $6,000 in costs because of higher fuel and maintenance costs.  

“People nationwide will pay the price for this illegal action. With no protections in place, climate change will worsen—that means more air pollution, more health problems, higher energy bills, and more extreme storms. Science and the law won’t allow it to stand.” 

Background

Endangerment

• Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA is legally required to limit the emission from motor vehicles of any “air pollutant” that the agency determines “causes or contributes to air pollution that may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare.” In 2007, the Supreme Court held in Massachusetts v. EPA that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases unambiguously are “air pollutants” under the Clean Air Act.
• The Supreme Court then ordered the EPA to decide, based on the science alone, whether greenhouse gases endanger health or welfare. In 2009, the EPA established, based on detailed scientific data, that greenhouse gas emissions pose a threat to human health and welfare. Following that determination, it established emissions standards for vehicles, and then for power plants and oil and gas operations under other provisions of the Clean Air Act over the ensuing years.
• In its repeal, the Trump EPA is rehashing legal arguments that the Supreme Court already considered and rejected in Massachusetts v. EPA.
• Along with the repeal of the endangerment finding, the EPA is scrapping all carbon emissions standards from vehicles. In separate rulemakings it has proposed delaying the methane rules and scrapping the power plant rules. Taken together, these standards are the most important federal actions to tackle climate change in U.S. history.

Vehicle standards

• The car rules alone would cut nearly eight billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions over the next three decades, more than the entire U.S. economy emits in a year. They would also mean fewer heart attacks, lung illnesses, and asthma attacks, resulting in $13 billion a year in avoided health care costs between 2026 and 2055, according to EPA analysis.
• Health and climate benefits aside, these standards straight up save consumers money. By cutting costs for fueling and repairs, the 2024 EPA car standards would reduce the spending by buyers of new cars by $6,000 over the lifetime of that vehicle. But the Trump EPA skewed its analysis to ignore the very real benefits and just count the costs. That’s not good business.
• The Trump EPA’s own initial analysis of the elimination of the vehicle standards would increase costs (and gas prices) and lead to job losses.

Power plant rules

• The 2024 power plant rules would help ensure the sector continues to cut emissions. Power plants are the largest industrial source of carbon emissions, spewing more than 1.5 billion tons of greenhouse gases annually. The standards were predicted to deliver $390 billion in total climate and health benefits, more than 20 times the costs to industry.
• In addition, they would reduce soot, smog, and mercury pollution that cause asthma, heart attacks, lung disease, and premature death. In its proposal, the Trump EPA acknowledged in its own analysis that the repeal would actually mean higher electricity bills for customers over the next five years.

Oil and gas methane rules

• EPA finalized a delay in long-sought rules for oil and gas operators to check for methane leaks in November, the latest in a series of massive Trump administration giveaways to the fossil fuel industry. Methane is a greenhouse gas 80 times as potent as carbon dioxide over 20 years. Most in the industry were already checking for leaks, so the delay just helped the worst actors, giving them a free pass to spew methane, as well as the volatile organic compounds that lead to smog and local air pollution.
• These oil and gas rules also make economic sense: Checking for leaks means the industry has more gas to sell, which is why established companies started plugging their leaks before the EPA mandated it.

For more information on the legal and technical issues around the endangerment finding, please see this NRDC report and this memo.

NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).