Statement on Elimination of the EPA’s Endangerment Finding

Washington, DC — Today, in a brazen assault on the health and welfare of the American public, the Trump administration announced its rule revoking the Environmental Protection Agency’s longstanding greenhouse gas endangerment finding under the federal Clean Air Act. With the stroke of a pen at a White House, Donald Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin have formalized climate denialism as official government policy and moved to eliminate EPA’s ability to directly fight the climate crisis.

The 2009 finding—based on the overwhelming scientific evidence that carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases endanger our health, our economy, and our future by driving global climate change—has been upheld unanimously in federal court. The finding gives EPA the formal statutory authority and obligation to regulate emissions of these heat-trapping gases from motor vehicles—the largest source of climate pollution in the United States—and laid the ground for control of greenhouse gas emissions from other major sources like power plants.  It was adopted following a rigorous rulemaking process considering thousands of public comments and a massive record of scientific research, which has grown far more voluminous in the intervening years.

Lee Zeldin and Donald Trump plan to toss out the endangerment finding on blatantly specious legal grounds, attempting to wish away the Supreme Court’s landmark 2007 holding in Massachusetts v. EPA that the Clean Air Act does cover greenhouse gas pollution. While this rule specifically concerns greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, EPA has made clear that it will do the same for other major sources of climate pollution like power plants.

Sierra Club has been involved in the legal fight for federal climate standards longer than any other organization. In December 2002, the Club filed the first-ever climate case under the Clean Air Act in federal court, seeking to force EPA to limit greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles under the statute. That lawsuit ultimately led to the Court’s holding in Massachusetts and the agency’s issuance of the endangerment finding in 2009. Now, two-and-a-half decades later, Trump and Zeldin are trying to destroy these hard-fought victories and turn back the clock to the 19th century.

Eliminating federal greenhouse standards will not only imperil the public, but could also open the floodgates to litigation directly against automobile manufacturers, fossil fuel companies, and other major sources of greenhouse gases who were otherwise shielded from such lawsuits under a 2011 Supreme Court ruling.

In the wake of today’s announcement, the Sierra Club and partners are exploring all legal options in response, including litigation.

In response, Sierra Club Executive Director Loren Blackford released the following statement: “The Trump administration is making it their official policy that our lives, our health, and our future are of no importance to them, only polluter profits. Climate change is wreaking havoc right now, destroying communities and endangering our lives. Instead of fighting it, Donald Trump is instead just focused on helping corporate polluters profit. Removing EPA’s authority to limit deadly greenhouse gas emissions is as shortsighted as it is reckless. Communities will suffer as extreme weather continues to threaten us all, costs will continue to rise, and we will saddle future generations with a world that grows increasingly unlivable and endangers the life we know. Donald Trump is abandoning his job to help the American people, and we will do everything in our power to block this misguided effort that puts polluters before people.”

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person’s right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.