{"id":367880,"date":"2025-02-27T09:09:35","date_gmt":"2025-02-27T08:09:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=367880"},"modified":"2025-02-27T09:09:36","modified_gmt":"2025-02-27T08:09:36","slug":"reasons-why-regulating-co2-emissions-needs-to-be-reconsidered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=367880","title":{"rendered":"Reasons Why Regulating CO2 Emissions Needs to be Reconsidered"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Roy Spencer, PhD<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

February 26th, 2025, by Roy W. Spencer, Ph. D.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, the Washington Post is reporting<\/a> the EPA Administrator is considering recommending to the White House that the EPA\u2019s 2009 CO2 Endangerment Finding be rescinded. Let\u2019s look at a few of the reasons why this might be a good thing to consider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Science<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The science of human-caused climate change is much more uncertain that you have been led to believe. The globally-averaged surface temperature of Earth seems to have warmed by 1 deg. C or so in the last century. The magnitude of the warming remains uncertain with a 30% range in different thermometer-based datasets, and considerably weaker warming in global \u201creanalysis\u201d datasets using all available data types. But whatever the level of warming, it might well be mostly human-caused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But we don\u2019t really know<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I keep pointing out, the global energy imbalance caused by increasing human-caused<\/em> CO2 emissions (yes, I believe we are the cause) is smaller than the accuracy with which we know natural<\/em> energy flows in the climate system. This means recent warming could be mostly natural and we would never know it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not claiming that is the case, only that there are uncertainties in climate science that are seldom if ever discussed. The climate models that are the basis for future projections of climate change are adjusted (fudged?) so that increasing CO2 is the only cause of warming. The models themselves do not have all of the necessary physics (mostly due to cloud process uncertainties) to determine whether our climate system was in a state of equilibrium before CO2 was increasing. (And, no, I don\u2019t believe the warming caused the oceans to outgas more CO2 \u2014 that effect is very small compared to the size of the human source).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As most readers here are aware, for many years I\u2019ve been saying the science of \u201cclimate change\u201d has been corrupted by big government science budgets, ideological worldview biases, and group-think. Even my career has depended upon Congress being convinced the issue is worthy of big budgets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is almost impossible for new science to be published in the peer-reviewed literature that in any way runs counter to the current narrative which states that humans are causing a \u201cclimate crisis\u201d from our CO2 emissions, a natural consequence of fossil fuel burning. That \u201cpeer review\u201d is now in the hands of climate scientists whose research careers depend upon continuing government funding. If the \u201cproblem\u201d of global warming were to be much less than previously believed, funding for that research could dry up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most alarmist science papers are the ones that get all of the press, which then get exaggerated and misrepresented by the news media. As a result, the public has a very skewed perception of what scientists really know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Roger Pielke, Jr. has been pointing out for many years, even the IPCC\u2019s official reports do not claim that our greenhouse gas emissions have caused changes in severe weather. Every severe weather event in the news is now dutifully tied in some inferential way to human causation, but with public opinion of mainstream news outlets at an all-time low, fewer and fewer people take those news reports seriously. Severe weather has always existed, and always will. Storm damages have increased only because of increasing infrastructure and everyone wanting to live on the coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And about the only, clear, long-term change I\u2019m aware of is a 50% decline<\/em> in strong to violent tornadoes since the 1950s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But you would never know of any good climate news if your main source of information is Al Gore\u2019s books, your favorite environmental think tank (that you contribute to so you can get their yearly calendar), or the mainstream media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Costs vs. Benefits<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there was no cost to replacing fossil fuels with renewable sources of energy, I might be a little more supportive of regulations which choose winners and losers, rather than letting the marketplace decide. But everything humans do requires energy, and so human flourishing depends upon abundant and affordable energy. We in the developed world might have excess wealth to spend on pricey new forms of energy (although our rapidly increasing national debt argues we don\u2019t have excess wealth to squander), but most of the world\u2019s poor continue to struggle to pay for energy we have in relative abundance\u2026 if they even have access to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2009 Endangerment Finding<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Supreme Court has ruled that CO2 falls under the EPA\u2019s Clean Air Act, and so EPA would need to regulate it if it was considered a threat to human health and welfare. Which it did in 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this \u201cthreat to human health and welfare\u201d business cuts both ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, I could argue that most premature human deaths are caused, indirectly, by what we eat (or don\u2019t eat). The incidence of obesity and related illnesses continues to rise. So, given the threat of food to human and welfare, why not just outlaw food? Food is a threat to human health and welfare<\/em>, too.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clearly we don\u2019t do that because food is necessary for life. But so is CO2.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CO2 is required for photosynthesis, which in turn is required for the food chain on land and in the oceans. NASA-based satellite measurements since the 1980s have documented global greening from increasing CO2. It has been estimated global agricultural productivity has increased by trillions of dollars from crops growing better, with more drought resistance, in a CO2-enriched atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve read the technical support document for the 2009 EF. It is full of gloom and doom. Any benefits to more CO2 are downplayed while costs are trumpeted. Its authorship appears to have been heavily influenced by environmental activists, most of whom have their own agendas. Much of the science in it now sounds more like Al Gore\u2019s original alarmist book Earth In The Balance<\/em> (which referenced me, but couldn\u2019t get my science contributions right) than a balanced assessment of the science of climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fifteen years since the 2009 Endangerment Finding, we now know much more. None of the scary scenarios originally predicted have actually come to pass, or at a minimum they were greatly exaggerated. Ten-year deadlines to \u201cdo something\u201d about the \u201cclimate crisis\u201d have come and gone since this mess started in the 1980s\u2026 a few times over. Even the IPCC (which only allows alarmist-leaning scientists to participate) has admitted it is unlikely we will experience significant changes in severe weather by the year 2100 that can be tied to increasing CO2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It makes sense to now reconsider the Endangerment Finding. Let the free market (including consumer preferences) decide which forms of energy we use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, the Washington Post is\u00a0reporting\u00a0the EPA Administrator is considering recommending to the White House that the EPA\u2019s 2009 CO2 Endangerment Finding be rescinded. Let\u2019s look at a few of the reasons why this might be a good thing to consider.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":367881,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691833569,691829997,691818056,691833234,691833292,691833570],"class_list":{"0":"post-367880","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-alarmist-science-papers","9":"tag-carbon-dioxide-co","10":"tag-climate-change","11":"tag-co2-endangerment-finding","12":"tag-epa-environmental-protection-agency","13":"tag-global-agricultural-productivity","15":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/00roywspencer_13617_two_old_scientists_in_lab_coats_on_a_hill_w_e0ab50e5-63e9-478a-936e-f03065881012_2.png?fit=1536%2C768&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1xHy","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":391924,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=391924","url_meta":{"origin":367880,"position":0},"title":"The DOE Scientific Report Underpinning the EPA\u2019s Decision to Reconsider the 2009 Endangerment Finding on CO2","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"31\/07\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Around 3 p.m. ET today, 29 July 2025, a Department of Energy report entitled \u201cA Critical Review of Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions on the U.S. Climate\u201d will be made available here. This is the report providing the scientific basis for today\u2019s announced decision by EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"carbon dioxide (CO\u2082)\"","block_context":{"text":"carbon dioxide (CO\u2082)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=carbon-dioxide-co%e2%82%82"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/AQM71_qU9H-MrDO5uOX8QU2cwm7V9O05a_c5lz1IgXXILOrxlsVWeGB_gegHVVfWGJbdwjTauXY_zcINUX0L4RxGYkbZPilIgYhFLXoKcpun_-IU7UFc__KOC3W9qk-D40F_JhwjN6cBCCh97XQLqOgkhkUNhw.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/AQM71_qU9H-MrDO5uOX8QU2cwm7V9O05a_c5lz1IgXXILOrxlsVWeGB_gegHVVfWGJbdwjTauXY_zcINUX0L4RxGYkbZPilIgYhFLXoKcpun_-IU7UFc__KOC3W9qk-D40F_JhwjN6cBCCh97XQLqOgkhkUNhw.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/AQM71_qU9H-MrDO5uOX8QU2cwm7V9O05a_c5lz1IgXXILOrxlsVWeGB_gegHVVfWGJbdwjTauXY_zcINUX0L4RxGYkbZPilIgYhFLXoKcpun_-IU7UFc__KOC3W9qk-D40F_JhwjN6cBCCh97XQLqOgkhkUNhw.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/AQM71_qU9H-MrDO5uOX8QU2cwm7V9O05a_c5lz1IgXXILOrxlsVWeGB_gegHVVfWGJbdwjTauXY_zcINUX0L4RxGYkbZPilIgYhFLXoKcpun_-IU7UFc__KOC3W9qk-D40F_JhwjN6cBCCh97XQLqOgkhkUNhw.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/AQM71_qU9H-MrDO5uOX8QU2cwm7V9O05a_c5lz1IgXXILOrxlsVWeGB_gegHVVfWGJbdwjTauXY_zcINUX0L4RxGYkbZPilIgYhFLXoKcpun_-IU7UFc__KOC3W9qk-D40F_JhwjN6cBCCh97XQLqOgkhkUNhw.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":426833,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=426833","url_meta":{"origin":367880,"position":1},"title":"Endangerment Finding Rescission Victory for Science and Law","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"18\/02\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"On February 12, 2026, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under Administrator Lee Zeldin in the Trump administration, finalized a rule rescinding the 2009 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Endangerment Finding.","rel":"","context":"In \"carbon dioxide (CO\u2082)\"","block_context":{"text":"carbon dioxide (CO\u2082)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=carbon-dioxide-co%e2%82%82"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0Screenshot-2026-02-12-184328-1.png?fit=1033%2C937&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0Screenshot-2026-02-12-184328-1.png?fit=1033%2C937&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0Screenshot-2026-02-12-184328-1.png?fit=1033%2C937&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0Screenshot-2026-02-12-184328-1.png?fit=1033%2C937&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":427384,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=427384","url_meta":{"origin":367880,"position":2},"title":"Climate and Energy Experts Praise Trump\u2019s Endangerment Finding Repeal","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"22\/02\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and President Trump have rescinded the greenhouse gas Endangerment Finding for vehicles.\u00a0Climate Realism\u00a0has long maintained that carbon dioxide is not a pollutant, and we applaud this decision.","rel":"","context":"In \"American Energy Institute\"","block_context":{"text":"American Energy Institute","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=american-energy-institute"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-353.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-353.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-353.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-353.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-353.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":363305,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=363305","url_meta":{"origin":367880,"position":3},"title":"The Endangerment Finding: It Looks Like Trump 2.0 Will Be Much More Fun Than Trump 1.0","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"25\/01\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The first couple of days of the new Trump administration have seen the President sign a blizzard of Executive Orders. These provide more material than a humble solo blogger like myself can ever comment on comprehensively. So I\u2019ll just have to start with one particular item that I am deeply\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"carbon dioxide (CO\u2082)\"","block_context":{"text":"carbon dioxide (CO\u2082)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=carbon-dioxide-co%e2%82%82"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Screenshot-2025-01-25-144325.png?fit=1199%2C901&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Screenshot-2025-01-25-144325.png?fit=1199%2C901&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Screenshot-2025-01-25-144325.png?fit=1199%2C901&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Screenshot-2025-01-25-144325.png?fit=1199%2C901&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Screenshot-2025-01-25-144325.png?fit=1199%2C901&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":367900,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=367900","url_meta":{"origin":367880,"position":4},"title":"Like dropping napalm on the whole Climate Blob: US EPA recommends dropping \u201cendangerment finding\u201d","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"27\/02\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Most of the climate policies of the United States depend on \u201cthe Endangerment Finding\u201d\u2013 so President Trump asked the new EPA head to look closely at it. This is the \u201cfinding\u201d in 2009 that CO2 endangers the public, and that in turn means the EPA must regulate this \u201cpollutant\u201d. Thereby\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"carbon dioxide (CO\u2082)\"","block_context":{"text":"carbon dioxide (CO\u2082)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=carbon-dioxide-co%e2%82%82"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0Gkvo29NaoAEvCpD.jpg?fit=1200%2C802&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0Gkvo29NaoAEvCpD.jpg?fit=1200%2C802&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0Gkvo29NaoAEvCpD.jpg?fit=1200%2C802&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0Gkvo29NaoAEvCpD.jpg?fit=1200%2C802&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0Gkvo29NaoAEvCpD.jpg?fit=1200%2C802&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":427608,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=427608","url_meta":{"origin":367880,"position":5},"title":"Climate alarmists howl after EPA rescinds \u2018Endangerment Finding\u2019","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"23\/02\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The US Environmental Protection Agency has finally\u00a0rescinded the 2009 Endangerment Finding\u00a0(EF) \u2013 the Obama era EPA ruling that claimed carbon dioxide and other \u201cgreenhouse gas\u201d (GHG) emissions \u201cendanger\u201d human health and welfare. Within minutes, climate alarmists challenged it in court.","rel":"","context":"In \"2009 Endangerment Finding (EF)\"","block_context":{"text":"2009 Endangerment Finding (EF)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=2009-endangerment-finding-ef"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-12-184328.png?fit=1033%2C937&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-12-184328.png?fit=1033%2C937&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-12-184328.png?fit=1033%2C937&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-12-184328.png?fit=1033%2C937&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=367880"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":367884,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367880\/revisions\/367884"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/367881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=367880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=367880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=367880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}