US environment agency to ditch legal finding that underpins most of its climate rules

Repeal of landmark ‘endangerment finding’ would undermine more than 30 environmental laws, according to estimates. 

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is set to remove the legal basis for most of its climate rules, including those regulating vehicle emissions.  

Plans to repeal the 2009 Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding were unveiled yesterday by the agency’s administrator Lee Zeldin, who described it as “the greatest day of deregulation in American history”. 

“With this proposal, the Trump EPA is proposing to end 16 years of uncertainty for automakers and American consumers,” he continued.  

The Endangerment Finding lays out the scientific case for how anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions threaten health and welfare. 

Without it, the EPA lacks the statutory authority to prescribe emissions standards. 

An estimated 31 of its laws will be opened up to revision or repeal if the proposal is successful, including rules to promote clean air and water, and to mitigate climate change. 

The EPA will launch a public comment period to solicit input on its plans, which are likely to be subject to legal challenges. 

To bolster its position, the agency released “updated scientific data” that challenge the “assumptions” behind the 2009 Endangerment Finding. 

That 151-page document was commissioned by US energy secretary Chris Wright in March, and was written by a five-strong working group including high-profile climate sceptics John Christy and Roy Spencer.

Among other things, it claimed that most extreme weather events in the US “do not show long-term trends”. 

“Attribution of climate change or extreme weather events to human CO2 emissions is challenged by natural climate variability, data limitations, and inherent model deficiencies,” the climate working group added.