President Trump retracts EPA’s landmark climate change findings
President Trump’s decision to rescind the endangered status designation removes the legal basis for regulations targeting air pollution caused by greenhouse gases.
California Governor Gavin Newsom vows to sue the federal government over recent decisions by President Donald Trump and his administration repealing the Environmental Protection Agency’s landmark climate findings;
Announcement on February 12th Big blow to environmental protection, abolishment EPA’s “critical findings” have been the legal basis for regulations targeting man-made greenhouse gases for nearly two decades.
“For people who care about the environment, this is a big issue. They say this is the biggest issue ever,” Trump said. “We are officially ending so-called ‘risk finding,’ a disastrous Obama-era policy that severely damaged the American auto industry.”. ”
The president described this moment as “the greatest deregulatory move in American history.”
In his announcement, President Trump claimed that if these environmental protections were repealed, auto costs would begin to “crash” and that the study’s findings had no “factual basis.”
Immediately after President Trump’s announcement, Gavin issued a statement calling the move a “reckless decision” that could pose “further threats to communities across the country.”
“This decision betrays the American people and solidifies the Republican Party’s status as the party of pro-pollution,” Newsom’s statement read. “If this reckless decision survives legal challenges, it will lead to more deadly wildfires, more heat-related deaths, more climate change floods and droughts, and greater threats to local communities, all while ignoring the overwhelming science that has protected public health at the EPA for decades.”
“Donald Trump may put corporate greed above communities and families, but California will not remain silent.”
Newsom said he plans to sue the federal government and challenge its decision to reverse the findings.
Additionally, the American Climate Alliance, a bipartisan coalition of governors co-chaired by Newsom and Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and aimed at promoting high-impact state-led climate action, issued a statement regarding the repeal of the EPA.
“This action is illegal, ignores basic science, and denies reality. We know that greenhouse gases are driving climate change and endangering our communities and our health, and we will not stop fighting to protect Americans from pollution,” the statement said.
“Today’s action by EPA reverses EPA’s 2009 finding that greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane pose a threat to public health and welfare. This finding is based on decades of research and thousands of peer-reviewed publications.”
EPA’s action to reverse the 2009 findings would ultimately eliminate the federal government’s ability to enforce environmental protections against greenhouse gas pollution from cars and trucks.
The U.S. Climate Alliance argues that the decision continues a trend seen throughout the Trump second administration of weakening or dismantling the country’s ability to combat greenhouse gas emissions and transition to greener energy.
The White House has not responded to Newsom’s latest threat to sue the federal government.
Noe Padilla is a Northern California reporter for USA Today. To contact him, npadilla@usatodayco.comX Follow him at @1NoePadilla or Bluesky @noepadilla.bsky.social.. Sign up for the TODAY Californian newsletter or follow TODAY Californian on Facebook.
