Trump's EPA Upends Emissions Standards In Massive Deregulatory Sweep

The Trump Administration and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin repealed the Obama-era 2009 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Endangerment Finding and "all subsequent federal GHG emission standards for all vehicles and engines of model years 2012 to 2027 and beyond." It is by far the President's most aggressive measure to roll back climate regulations, a promise the President has made since his first campaign.

Trump's EPA guts emissions standards

The rule rescinds the 2009 "endangerment finding," which determined that carbon dioxide and many other greenhouse gases endanger public health. Many of the gases named in the finding were tailpipe emissions from vehicles. Trump, in a White House press release, called the initiative the "single largest deregulatory action in American history." EPA Admin. Lee Zeldin said the endangerment finding was "the Holy Grail of federal regulatory overreach."

It's impossible to overstate the importance of the 2009 endangerment finding. The Obama-era Gas (GHG) Endangerment Finding is the legal cornerstone for almost all climate regulations under the Clean Air Act for cars and other sources of pollution. Given its critical importance to US climate policy, legal challenges will almost certainly follow the announcement. Similarly, the Trump Administration will likely seek to use this maneuver to further push for deregulation.

Trump's EPA will also propose further automotive deregulation

The EPA announced it will also propose a two-year delay in another important emissions restriction for cars and light trucks put forth by the Biden administration. The White House called the 2009 Endangerment Finding a justification for trillions of dollars in regulations and the "Obama and Biden Administrations’ illegal push towards Electric Vehicle (EV) mandates and compliance requirements."

The announcement directly refutes current climate policy and scientific findings, stating that "even if the U.S. were to eliminate all GHG emissions from all vehicles, there would be no material impact on global climate indicators through 2100." Previously, Zeldin has said that previous administrations were willing to "bankrupt" the US in order to fight climate change.

The recent announcement is part of a broader targeting of tailpipe emissions by both Zeldin and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. Previous Trump initiatives have looked to weaken, if not outright repeal, existing tailpipe emissions requirements at the federal level. Most notably, this included the suspension of federal EV infrastructure spending and purchasing incentives for taxpayers, which Trump called an illegal "mandate" handed down by previous administrations. While Trump appointees tout recent EPA initiatives as promoting consumer choice, paving the way for automakers to cut prices, and removing wasteful regulation, established climate science points toward a strong correlation between tailpipe emissions and the overall rise in global temperatures.