The EPA is urging President Donald Trump to revise a pivotal scientific finding, central to U.S. climate policy for over a decade. EPA Administrator Lee Zaldin has advised the president to set aside the 2009 ‘endangerment finding’ which declared that greenhouse gases (GHGs) were detrimental to public health and welfare. This particular finding forms the basis of several major climate regulations in the country, targeting motor vehicles and power plants among others.
Zeldin reiterated this after Trump issued an executive order calling for the review by EPA on the validity of the 2009 finding. If that finding were changed by EPA, many climate regulations aimed at reducing pollution could be cast aside. Some of Trump’s advisors such as Steve Milloy, argue that removing this finding would cripple most environmental efforts initiated by the EPA.
Environmental groups are concerned with this repositioning. The scientific evidence shows that greenhouse gases are contributing more than ever to climate change. In the words of David Doniger, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, that action is irresponsible.
During Trump’s first term, the EPA was already engaged in the weakening of the Endangerment Finding by relaxing climate regulations but this was never completely repealed. With this latest move, the administration is considering whether to challenge the basic science further behind U.S. climate action.
