The Environmental Protection Agency has rolled back landmark environmental laws designed to curb greenhouse gas emissions and decarbonize sources of pollution, calling the Obama- and Biden-era motions “illegal.”
The agency has withdrawn “Endangerment and Cause or Contribute Findings for Greenhouse Gases.” founded in 2009 that greenhouse gases pose a threat to public health Clean Air Acta law that deals with hazardous emissions from all sources – both vehicles and buildings.
“This decision will drive up costs for businesses and consumers and weaken our economy,” said Sandra Purohit, federal advocacy director for E2. “It upends nearly two decades of common-sense policy. It injects enormous uncertainty into the marketplace. It discourages capital investment and innovation in the auto industry. And it ignores the economic costs of extreme weather, which will only be exacerbated by rising greenhouse gas emissions – including disaster cleanup, higher insurance premiums, lost productivity and supply chain disruption.”
By removing the Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding, the EPA no longer recognizes greenhouse gas emissions as a threat to public health. The primary mission of the U.S. solar industry is to decarbonize the electric grid through photovoltaic electrification.
The EPA called this “the largest deregulation action in U.S. history,” in a press release published on Thursday. The publication rationalizes this deregulation by claiming that the laws are harmful to the auto industry, and without them, car costs will fall and save American taxpayers $1.3 trillion.
“The Endangerment Finding has been the source of 16 years of consumer choice restrictions and trillions of dollars in hidden costs for Americans,” said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. “Called by some as the ‘Holy Grail’ of the ‘climate change religion,’ the Endangerment Finding has now been eliminated. The Trump EPA strictly follows the letter of the law, returns common sense to policy, provides consumer choice to Americans and advances the American Dream.”
According to a report, more than 17 million electric vehicles will be purchased worldwide by 2024, with 1.5 million electric vehicles purchased in the United States alone published by the International Energy Agency. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center also acknowledges that while EVs may have a higher initial cost than gas-powered vehicles, EV charging costs and government and utility incentives can save owners money over time. Using renewable energy sources such as solar energy to power electric vehicles can further reduce those costs.
According to the “Inventory of US Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks” report, transportation was responsible for more than a third of US greenhouse gas emissions in 2022. published by the EPA.
This deregulation is the latest in a series of actions that distance the United States from policies and organizations that address climate change. Last month, the Trump administration withdrew the United States from more than 60 international organizations, including 12 dealing with renewable energy, climate change and environmental missions.
