The Trump EPA is set to cut the legs out from under U.S. climate change rules this week, revoking its own authority to regulate carbon dioxide and other pollutants heating the planet.
EPA’s plan to repeal the 16-year-old endangerment finding that said greenhouse gases pose a threat to public health and welfare represents the most aggressive step yet by President Donald Trump to reverse the policies and regulations aimed at slowing the pollution driving climate change.
The repeal, which White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said will be released Thursday, will erase the regulatory foundation for many of EPA’s climate rules under the Clean Air Act. It could also handcuff future Democratic presidents from using EPA to transition the nation’s fleets of automobiles and power plants to clean energy — even as experts around the world warn ever more significant action is needed to stave off the worst effects of climate change.
“I think it’s a historic low, frankly, for EPA to be taking this stance now,” said Benjamin DeAngelo, a former EPA official who played a key role in writing the 2009 finding that is set to be repealed.
