Trump's EPA Just Dropped a Bombshell Plan to Nuke the Very Foundation of U.S. Climate Action
WASHINGTON — In a move that threatens to unravel the entire framework of American climate policy, President Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency has officially proposed to eliminate a critical scientific conclusion that has served as the bedrock for regulating greenhouse gases for over a decade.
The administration on Tuesday took aim at the 2009 “endangerment finding,” a landmark declaration that formally recognized carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases as a danger to public health and welfare. This finding is not just another piece of paper; it’s the legal linchpin that empowers the EPA under the Clean Air Act to create and enforce rules limiting pollution from cars, power plants, and other major industrial sources contributing to global warming.
Without this foundational ruling, the legal authority for a vast array of climate regulations could simply evaporate, effectively dismantling the federal government's primary tools for combating climate change. The proposal represents one of the most aggressive steps yet by the administration to roll back environmental protections established by its predecessors.
Speaking on the conservative podcast “Ruthless,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin framed the controversial action as a historic liberation from burdensome rules. He boldly declared that repealing the finding “will be the largest deregulatory action in the history of America.”
Zeldin defended the move by launching a sharp critique against climate action advocates, accusing them of economic sabotage. “There are people who, in the name of climate change, are willing to bankrupt the country,” he stated, casting the original finding as a vehicle for economic ruin rather than a safeguard for public health.
The proposed repeal signals a fundamental rejection of the scientific consensus that underpinned the 2009 decision. By targeting the endangerment finding itself, the administration is not just chipping away at individual regulations but attempting to pull out the very cornerstone on which all current and future federal climate action is built. This dramatic gambit is certain to ignite fierce legal and political battles, placing the future of U.S. environmental policy at a critical crossroads.
