The World Court says countries must deal with climate change
The UN’s highest court said countries need to fulfill their climate obligations or face potential lawsuits.
WASHINGTON – The Environmental Protection Agency retracts long-standing findings that greenhouse gas emissions put human health at risk and vehicle tailpipe emission standards at risk, setting what it describes as the largest deregulation action in US history.
Republican President Donald Trump’s choice to run EPA Lee Zeldin announced the agency’s plans to withdraw “dangerous findings” on Tuesday in a ruthless podcast.
In 2009, the EPA under former Democrat President Barack Obama announced its discovery that emissions from new cars contribute to pollution, putting public health and welfare at risk. It was supported by several legal challenges and supported subsequent greenhouse gas regulations.
“When it comes to risk discoveries, they’ll say that carbon dioxide is a pollutant and that’s the end. They won’t acknowledge any kind of benefits or the need for carbon dioxide,” Zeldin told the podcast. “It’s important to note how important it is to the planet.”
Last week, Reuters reported that the EPA plans to remove all greenhouse gas emission standards for light, medium and heavy-duty vehicles and engines in the coming days after removing scientific findings that justified these rules, in accordance with the summary.
It is also expected to justify retracting the discovery of danger by casting doubt on the scientific record used to make the discovery, saying that “development raises great questions on the reliability of the discovery.”
In a landmark case in the 2007 Massachusetts v. EPA, the U.S. Supreme Court said the EPA has authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, and called on agencies to make scientific discoveries on whether to put public health at risk.
If confirmed, this measure will destroy the EPA’s ability to implement its main authority to limit climate pollution under the Federal Clean Air Act.
Environmental activists quickly condemned the announcement.
“As if doubt remains, the Trump administration has formalized climate denial as an official US government policy,” the Sierra Club said in a statement that is Lauren Blackford’s executive director. “If approved, revoking the finding of danger will be a critical blow to the EPA’s authority to limit the EPA’s fatal greenhouse gas emissions and protect the planet from the worst of the climate crisis. Almost every day, extreme weather, record-breaking incidents, record-breaking floods, deadly floods and droughts threaten our lives and our communities.
“The Trump administration is once again doing so only in the interests of corporate polluters while we settle the very foundations and laws of our government and pay the prices.”
Zeldin said he will make a formal announcement in Indiana Tuesday afternoon.
Contribution: Ben Adler
