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E.P.A. IS SAID TO DRAFT A PLAN TO END ITS ABILITY TO FIGHT CLIMATE
CHANGE
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Lisa Friedman
July 22, 2025
The New York Times
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_ According to two people familiar with the draft, it would eliminate
the bedrock scientific finding that greenhouse-gas emissions threaten
human life by dangerously warming the planet. _
The E.P.A. has sent to the White House a draft plan to repeal a rule
known as the “endangerment finding,” according to people familiar
with the plan, Benjamin Rasmussen for The New York Times
The Trump administration has drafted a plan to repeal a fundamental
scientific finding that gives the United States government its
authority to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions and fight climate
change, according to two people familiar with the plan.
The proposed Environmental Protection Agency rule rescinds a 2009
declaration known as the “endangerment finding,” which
scientifically established that greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide
and methane endanger human lives.
That finding is the foundation of the federal government’s only tool
to limit the climate pollution
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vehicles, power plants and other industries that is dangerously
heating the planet.
The E.P.A. proposal, which is expected to be made public within days,
also calls for rescinding limits on tailpipe emissions that were
designed to encourage automakers to build and sell more electric
vehicles. Those regulations, which were based on the endangerment
finding, were a fundamental part of the Biden administration’s
efforts to move the country away from gasoline-powered vehicles. The
transportation sector is the largest source of greenhouse gas
emissions in the United States.
The E.P.A. intends to argue that imposing climate regulations on
automakers poses the real harm to human health because it would lead
to higher prices and reduced consumer choice, according to the two
people familiar with the administration’s plan. They asked to remain
anonymous because they weren’t authorized to discuss the draft
proposal.
The draft proposal could still undergo changes. But if it is approved
by the White House and formally released, the public would have an
opportunity to weigh in before it is made final, likely later this
year.
Molly Vaseliou, a spokeswoman for the E.P.A., did not confirm the
details of the plan. In a statement she said the E.P.A. sent the draft
proposal to the White House on June 30, and that it “will be
published for public notice and comment once it has completed
interagency review and been signed by the Administrator.”
If the Trump administration is able to repeal the endangerment
finding, it would not only erase all current limits on greenhouse gas
pollution from cars, factories, power plants and other sources. It
would prevent future administrations from trying to tackle climate
change, with lasting implications.
“The White House is trying to turn back the clock and re-litigate
both the science and the law,” said Vicki Arroyo, who teaches
environmental law at Georgetown University. She called the evidence
that climate change is harmful “overwhelming and
incontrovertible.”
Since taking office, President Trump has abandoned U.S. efforts to
tackle global warming. He also has moved to roll back virtually every
federal policy
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at curbing greenhouse gases from the burning of oil, gas and coal. His
administration has encouraged more production and use of fossil fuels
while stifling the growth of clean energy and electric vehicles.
In calling to repeal the endangerment finding, the draft E.P.A. rule
does not appear to focus on the science or try to make the case that
fossil fuels aren’t warming the planet.
Instead, it argues that the E.P.A. overstepped its legal authority
under the Clean Air Act by making a broad finding that greenhouse gas
emissions endanger the public welfare. It makes the case that the
E.P.A. administrator has limited power that apply only to specific
circumstances.
Joseph Goffman, who led the air office at the E.P.A. under the Biden
administration, said the rule would all but certainly face legal
challenges if it is finalized.
He said the Trump administration’s proposed rule conflicts with the
2007 Supreme Court ruling in Massachusetts v. E.P.A., a landmark case
that found for the first time that greenhouse gases were a pollutant
under the Clean Air Act. That led the E.P.A. to make the finding in
2009 that said that six greenhouse gases were harming public health.
In more than 200 pages
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the E.P.A. at that time outlined the science and detailed how
increasingly severe heat waves, storms and droughts were expected to
contribute to higher rates of death and disease.
Maxine Joselow contributed reporting.
A CORRECTION WAS MADE ON
July 23, 2025
An earlier version of this article incorrectly attributed a statement
to Vickie Patton, general counsel for the Environmental Defense Fund.
The statement came from Vicki Arroyo, who teaches environmental law at
Georgetown University.
_LISA FRIEDMAN is a reporter covering climate policy and politics at
The New York Times._
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