EPA has expunged climate change from its org chart, but it hasn’t washed its hands of climate-related work just yet.
The agency overhauled the Office of Air and Radiation early this month, including eliminating two offices that produced climate rules: the Office of Atmospheric Protection and the Office of Air Quality Planning. But some of those offices’ programs, like Energy Star, will remain, while career rulemaking staff continue their work to repeal climate rules.
“I don’t think anything has changed for those teams, other than they now have a new acronym,” said a former EPA official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations with career officials.
The reorganization comes as EPA works to repeal the so-called endangerment finding for greenhouse gas emissions. The 2009 scientific finding props up most Clean Air Act climate rules, and rescinding it is a key part of the Trump administration’s broader deregulatory agenda.
