In 2009, the “EPA) of the“ funding ”of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) enabled the United States to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. This scientific and legal determination judged that the warming gases of the planet such as carbon dioxide are dangerous for human health and well-being. Now the Trump administration has decided to cancel this conclusion.
At an Indiana automotive dealer on Tuesday, July 29, the EPA administrator Lee Zeldin unveiled the agency’s proposal to repeal the conclusion. The EPA claims that this decision would allow Americans to save $ 54 billion in costs per year thanks to the elimination of all greenhouse gas standards for motor vehicles and engines, including the mandate of Biden’s Electric Vehicle. The rollback marks the most aggressive attempt by President Donald Trump to disentangle federal restrictions on fossil fuels. On Tuesday, Zeldin described it as “the biggest deregulating action in the history of America”, reports the Associated Press.
“With this proposal, the EPA Trump proposes to end 16 years of uncertainty for car manufacturers and American consumers,” said Zeldin, according to a press release from the agency.
Scientists, climate defenders, environmental policy experts and former EPA leaders warn that the repeal would have serious consequences for American health, well-being and climate. “The abandonment of all efforts to treat climate change is not in the best interests of anyone, but the fossil fuels industry, which has won billions of dollars in the past 50 years and has shown that if it is uncontrolled, it will pursue profits at all costs, even if it destroys the American lifestyle for American Progress, said in a declaration.
The Clean Air Act obliges EPA to regulate any air pollutant which endangers public health or well-being. In 2007, the Supreme Court judged that greenhouse gases were subject to this mandate. Two years later, the conclusion of endangerment determined that the current atmospheric concentrations projected by six key greenhouse gases “threaten public health and the well-being of current and future generations”. The “cause or contributes to contribute” issued simultaneously indicating motor vehicles and motors as main sources of dangerous greenhouse gas emissions. These determinations serve as a legal basis for the EPA to regulate the warming pollution of the planet.
During the 16 years that followed the agency which issued the conclusion of endangering, scientists have found overwhelming evidence to show that greenhouse gases endanger public health and stimulates global warming. Even under EPA regulation, emissions have led to deadly consequences for countless Americans, leading more frequent and intense extreme weather events and aggravating air quality. Despite this, the conservatives and certain Republicans of the Congress argued that the real threat was excessive overregulation and hidden taxes.
In March, Zeldin announced an official review of the conclusion of the endangerment on the grounds that the EPA did not examine the regulatory benefits in 2009. This movement was part of a series of environmental declines which aimed to eliminate 31 regulations on clean air, clean water, climate change, and more, according to AP. Trump established the previous one of these actions with a decree of the day to radically reduce environmental regulations, which also demanded the EPA submit a report “on legality and continuous applicability” of the conclusion of endangerment.
Now Zeldin aims to “cancel the under-tension of $ 1 billion of expensive regulations” by completely revoking the conclusion, according to the EPA press release. The proposal must go through a long examination process, including public comments, before it is finalized. The environmental groups expressed strong opposition to the decision and promised to fight it, in particular the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
“EPA wants to get rid of its responsibility to protect us from climate pollution, but science and law say the opposite,” said Christy Goldfuss, executive director of the NRDC, in a statement. “Lawyers and scientists from the NRDC will not let it happen without a fight. If the EPA finalizes this illegal and cynical approach, we will see them in court. ”
