On Thursday, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will rescind the 2009 declaration that has served as the basis for the government’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.
Known as the Endangerment Finding, this 2009 declaration states that the “current and projected concentrations” of greenhouse gases “threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations.”
This stemmed from a 2007 Supreme Court ruling that greenhouse gases are a category of air pollutant covered by the Clean Air Act, opening the door for the EPA to determine under section 202(a) if they can reasonably be understood to pose a threat to “public health or welfare.”
By repealing the agency’s prior declaration, the federal government would have significantly less authority to promulgate and enforce climate-related regulations.
“This will be the largest deregulatory action in American history,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a Tuesday briefing.
President Donald Trump (R) and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin will “formalize the rescission of the 2009 Obama-era endangerment finding” at a White House ceremony, Leavitt explained.
Leavitt went on to say that this “will be the largest deregulatory action in American history, and it will save the American people $1.3 trillion in crushing regulations.”
According to the Associated Press, Leavitt said that the majority of these savings will stem from reduced costs for new vehicles, with the EPA projecting average per vehicle savings of more than $2,400 for popular light-duty cars, SUVs and trucks.
This past summer, the Trump Administration indicated its intention to roll back the declaration, prompting criticism from Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey and Gov. Janet Mills (D).
“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s disregard for the dangers of greenhouse gas emissions defies science, law, and reality,” Attorney General Frey said.
“The science is clear that greenhouse gas emissions cause significant harm to public health and welfare, which is increasingly borne out in Maine by impacts including sea level rise, extreme storms, flooding, and disrupted coastal habitats and fisheries,” he continued. “We have worked to hold the administration to responsible climate action and we will continue to advocate for regulation that confronts the climate crisis.”
Click Here to Read Attorney General Aaron Frey’s Full Statement
“This proposal from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency undercuts more than a decade’s worth of progress to protect the health of our planet and our people,” Gov. Mills wrote, in part.
“As this new rule undergoes the formal public process, my Administration will remain steadfast in our commitment to protect the health of Maine people and our clean air and water, which are the foundation of our economy,” Mills concluded.
Abigail Dillen, president of Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental law group, has expressed publicly that her organization intends to challenge the Trump Administration’s decision in court.
“This is a slap in the face to the millions of Americans who are living through climate disasters and their aftermath,” says Dillen, according to Maine Public. “And we will see this administration in court, to ensure that our government does its job to protect us.”
