{"id":368180,"date":"2025-03-01T16:35:16","date_gmt":"2025-03-01T15:35:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=368180"},"modified":"2025-03-01T16:35:18","modified_gmt":"2025-03-01T15:35:18","slug":"much-harm-and-no-good-from-epa-greenhouse-rule-kill-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=368180","title":{"rendered":"Much Harm and No Good from EPA Greenhouse Rule: Kill It"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Plaque sign on the outside of the United State Department of Education in Washington D.C.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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

By Vijay Jayaraj<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having declared carbon dioxide (CO\u2082) and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) to be harmful pollutants, the Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s (EPA\u2019s) 2009 endangerment finding has been the cornerstone of wrongheaded climate regulation, an impediment to economic growth and destroyer of livelihoods. All the result of rulemaking that puts ideology ahead of science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Empowered to impose sweeping restrictions on GHG emissions from all manner of human activity, the EPA has been free to impose unreasonable demands on electric generation, transportation, manufacturing and agriculture \u2013 just to name more prominent targets. Under the Obama and Biden administrations, with CO2<\/sub> emissions being the focus, fossil fuels in general and coal in particular were hammered by this regulatory cudgel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the last decade, regulations have contributed to the closing of more than 40 percent of the nation\u2019s coal-fired power plants<\/a> \u2013 one of the most economical and reliable generators of electricity. Job losses hit thousands of plant workers, coal miners and employees of supporting businesses, and both the price of electricity and the risk of blackouts increased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The endangerment finding was a response to the Supreme Court\u2019s 2007 decision in Massachusetts v. EPA<\/em>, which ruled that EPA had the authority to regulate GHGs under the Clean Air Act if they endangered the public. On the basis of flawed analyses, the Obama administration\u2019s EPA concluded that there was such a threat, laying a foundation for some of the agency\u2019s most consequential regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nationally, the Clean Power Plan, the Affordable Clean Energy Rule and stringent vehicle emissions standards all stem from the endangerment finding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

States point to the regulation to justify their own climate initiatives. California, for instance, has used it to defend its waiver for stricter vehicle emissions standards, while Northeastern states have relied on it to uphold the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a cap-and-trade program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under President Biden, the EPA doubled down, imposing last year even stricter rules for power plants and automobiles, with the goal of achieving \u201cnet-zero emissions\u201d by 2050. Notably, critics say that a workable technology to meet emission limits for power plants does not exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But EPA ignores much more than the feasibility of technological \u201csolutions.\u201d The endangerment finding disregards complexities of climate dynamics \u2013 from solar cycles to clouds to ocean currents \u2013 and relies on bad science, including computer models that empirical data have proven false. Even the quality of global temperature records is too poor to support the rule. And though often referenced by supporters of the rule, links between warming and an increase in severe weather have not been found. In fact, there are no trends of weather getting worse over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of all the rule\u2019s absurdities none is greater than the claim that CO2<\/sub> is a pollutant catastrophically overheating the planet. More than a century of accepted science has established that the warming potential of CO2<\/sub> decreases as its atmospheric concentration rises. This phenomenon of diminishing returns means that even doubling the amount of CO2<\/sub> from current levels would have only a modest effect on temperature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe models predicting doom from CO2<\/sub> have consistently overestimated warming, yet the EPA continues to rely on them to justify its regulations,\u201d says Judith Curry, one of many climate scientists questioning the regulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EPA also fails to account for the benefits of CO\u2082. Higher levels of the gas increase plant growth and agricultural productivity through CO\u2082\u2019s fertilization effect \u2013 a factor in the greening of Earth over the last several decades, as affirmed by NASA. This has significantly improved global food security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By extension, the EPA brushes aside the enormous contribution that hydrocarbons have made in allowing, through industrialization and modern agriculture, humanity to increase tenfold over the last 250 years. Coal, as well as oil and natural gas, remain critical to the economic development of impoverished nations and the feeding of their people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Trump\u2019s EPA administrator, Lee Zeldin, was given 30 days to make recommendations regarding the endangerment finding on \u201cthe legality and continuing applicability\u201d of the rule, and the clock is ticking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given the scientific shortcomings of EPA\u2019s \u201cgreenhouse\u201d rule, the time is past for its repeal. The EPA should acknowledge that CO\u2082 \u2013 two pounds of which everybody exhales daily \u2013 is not a threat to the public and should not be treated as such.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This would defang the pseudoscience of fearmongers and the lawfare emanating from the U.N. and anti-human activists and allow a return of common sense and scientific integrity befitting a free society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This commentary was first published at Washington Times<\/em><\/a> on February 25, 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vijay Jayaraj<\/a> is a Science and Research Associate at the <\/em>CO2<\/sub> Coalition<\/em><\/a>, Arlington, Virginia. He <\/em>holds an M.S. in environmental sciences from the University of East Anglia and a postgraduate degree in energy management from Robert Gordon University, both in the U.K., and a bachelor\u2019s in engineering from Anna University, India.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Having declared carbon dioxide (CO\u2082) and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) to be harmful pollutants, the Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s (EPA\u2019s) 2009 endangerment finding has been the cornerstone of wrongheaded climate regulation, an impediment to economic growth and destroyer of livelihoods. All the result of rulemaking that puts ideology ahead of science.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":368182,"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":[691829997,691824859,691830175,691821324],"class_list":{"0":"post-368180","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-carbon-dioxide-co","9":"tag-environmental-protection-agency-epa-2","10":"tag-greenhouse-gases-ghgs","11":"tag-regional-greenhouse-gas-initiative-rggi","13":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0EPA_News-scaled-1.jpg?fit=2560%2C1582&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1xMo","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":395612,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=395612","url_meta":{"origin":368180,"position":0},"title":"Breathing Easier: EPA\u2019s Bold Move to Axe the \u2018Endangerment Finding\u2019","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"16\/08\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"EPA\u2019s proposed action will worsen the \u201cclimate crisis\u201d and \u201cendanger people\u2019s health,\u201d the Sierra Club laments. It will \u201cincrease the suffering of communities that are overburdened by the dirty co-pollutants caused by burning fossil fuels,\u201d claims Al Gore.","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\/08\/00Lee-Zeldin-video-shuts-down-EPA-museum.jpg?fit=1200%2C679&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/00Lee-Zeldin-video-shuts-down-EPA-museum.jpg?fit=1200%2C679&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/00Lee-Zeldin-video-shuts-down-EPA-museum.jpg?fit=1200%2C679&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/00Lee-Zeldin-video-shuts-down-EPA-museum.jpg?fit=1200%2C679&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/00Lee-Zeldin-video-shuts-down-EPA-museum.jpg?fit=1200%2C679&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":366682,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=366682","url_meta":{"origin":368180,"position":1},"title":"Due This Week: EPA Plan for GHG Endangerment\u00a0Finding","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"18\/02\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"As promised, Trump on day 1 (January 20, 2025) issued an Executive Order challenging the presumption \u201cgreenhouse gases\u201d (GHGs) endanger public health and safety.\u00a0","rel":"","context":"In \"EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)\"","block_context":{"text":"EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=epa-environmental-protection-agency"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0eyJ3IjoxMDgyLCJmIjoid2VicCIsImsiOiIxMTdkMDEzN2YxMWFhY2RhMjI4NDVmZmJjNTdhZTVjZCIsImNyb3AiOlswLDMsMTYwMCwxMDYyXSwiciI6MS41LCJvIjoiZ2xvYmFsIn0.webp?fit=1082%2C718&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0eyJ3IjoxMDgyLCJmIjoid2VicCIsImsiOiIxMTdkMDEzN2YxMWFhY2RhMjI4NDVmZmJjNTdhZTVjZCIsImNyb3AiOlswLDMsMTYwMCwxMDYyXSwiciI6MS41LCJvIjoiZ2xvYmFsIn0.webp?fit=1082%2C718&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0eyJ3IjoxMDgyLCJmIjoid2VicCIsImsiOiIxMTdkMDEzN2YxMWFhY2RhMjI4NDVmZmJjNTdhZTVjZCIsImNyb3AiOlswLDMsMTYwMCwxMDYyXSwiciI6MS41LCJvIjoiZ2xvYmFsIn0.webp?fit=1082%2C718&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0eyJ3IjoxMDgyLCJmIjoid2VicCIsImsiOiIxMTdkMDEzN2YxMWFhY2RhMjI4NDVmZmJjNTdhZTVjZCIsImNyb3AiOlswLDMsMTYwMCwxMDYyXSwiciI6MS41LCJvIjoiZ2xvYmFsIn0.webp?fit=1082%2C718&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0eyJ3IjoxMDgyLCJmIjoid2VicCIsImsiOiIxMTdkMDEzN2YxMWFhY2RhMjI4NDVmZmJjNTdhZTVjZCIsImNyb3AiOlswLDMsMTYwMCwxMDYyXSwiciI6MS41LCJvIjoiZ2xvYmFsIn0.webp?fit=1082%2C718&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":365658,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=365658","url_meta":{"origin":368180,"position":2},"title":"Erasing the IRA\u2019s \u201cgreenhouse gas pollution\u201d words","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"11\/02\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The infamous Inflation Reduction Act is best known for throwing hundreds of billions of dollars at green causes. Along the way it also says repeatedly and falsely that carbon dioxide and the other greenhouse gases (except water vapor) are pollution.","rel":"","context":"In \"CO2 Endangerment Finding\"","block_context":{"text":"CO2 Endangerment Finding","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=co2-endangerment-finding"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0205048825_m.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0205048825_m.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0205048825_m.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0205048825_m.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0205048825_m.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":367569,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=367569","url_meta":{"origin":368180,"position":3},"title":"Dangerous EPA GHG Endangerment\u00a0Finding","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"25\/02\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Most Americans have probably never heard of the\u00a0Endangerment Finding, however, this obscure rule has effectively allowed the federal government\u00a0to label carbon dioxide a harmful \u201cpollutant\u201d\u00a0that can be regulated under the Clean Air Act. This is a prime example of\u00a0government gone wild.\u00a0The\u00a0Clean Air Act\u00a0was never\u00a0intended\u00a0to allow the EPA to declare carbon\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\/0GettyImages-157442068.webp?fit=1200%2C790&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0GettyImages-157442068.webp?fit=1200%2C790&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0GettyImages-157442068.webp?fit=1200%2C790&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0GettyImages-157442068.webp?fit=1200%2C790&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0GettyImages-157442068.webp?fit=1200%2C790&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":426214,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=426214","url_meta":{"origin":368180,"position":4},"title":"Trump Administration Ends Obama-Era Climate Finding, Repeals Vehicle GHG Standards","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"14\/02\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"On February 12, 2026, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under Administrator Lee Zeldin and alongside President Trump, finalized a major rule that revokes the 2009 Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding, a landmark Obama-era determination that greenhouse gases (GHGs) like carbon dioxide endanger public health and welfare. This finding had served\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Biden and Obama administrations\"","block_context":{"text":"Biden and Obama administrations","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=biden-and-obama-administrations"},"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":391939,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=391939","url_meta":{"origin":368180,"position":5},"title":"US Carbon Dioxide Endangerment Finding\u00a0Axed","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"31\/07\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The Trump administration has announced a plan to scrap a landmark finding that greenhouse gases are harmful to the environment, severely curbing the federal government\u2019s ability to combat climate change.","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\/ChatGPT-Image-29.-Apr.-2025-19_20_27.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/ChatGPT-Image-29.-Apr.-2025-19_20_27.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/ChatGPT-Image-29.-Apr.-2025-19_20_27.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/ChatGPT-Image-29.-Apr.-2025-19_20_27.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368180","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=368180"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368180\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":368184,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368180\/revisions\/368184"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/368182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=368180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=368180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=368180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}