Trump Administration to Rescind EPA Endangerment Finding Thursday, Dismantling the Legal Foundation for All U.S. Climate Regulation
The Trump administration will formally rescind the Environmental Protection Agency's 2009 endangerment finding on Thursday, eliminating the scientific and legal cornerstone that has underpinned every major federal climate regulation for nearly two decades. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced Tuesday that President Trump will be joined by EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to "formalize the rescission," calling it "the largest deregulatory action in American history" and claiming it will save Americans $1.3 trillion in regulatory costs. The endangerment finding, issued during the Obama administration, determined that greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane pose a risk to public health and welfare, thereby granting the EPA authority to regulate them under the Clean Air Act. Its removal would effectively strip the federal government of its primary legal mechanism for limiting emissions from vehicles, power plants, and the oil and gas industry — the three largest sources of greenhouse gas pollution in the United States. Environmental groups have already promised immediate legal challenges, while fossil fuel interests and conservative policy organizations have celebrated the move as a long-sought victory against what they characterize as regulatory overreach. The decision arrives against a backdrop of escalating climate impacts: the last three years have been the warmest ever recorded globally, devastating wildfires swept through Los Angeles in early 2025, and deadly flooding has struck communities from Texas to Alaska. It also comes as the global auto industry navigates an uncertain transition toward electric vehicles, with some manufacturers — including Elon Musk's Tesla — having urged the administration to preserve the finding.