{"id":395612,"date":"2025-08-16T19:52:21","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T17:52:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=395612"},"modified":"2025-08-16T19:52:23","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T17:52:23","slug":"breathing-easier-epas-bold-move-to-axe-the-endangerment-finding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=395612","title":{"rendered":"Breathing Easier: EPA\u2019s Bold Move to Axe the \u2018Endangerment Finding\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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

From CFACT<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Craig Rucker<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

These and other overwrought reactions to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s proposal to reconsider<\/a> the so-called \u201cEndangerment Finding\u201d underscore the shenanigans that EPA utilized to make that finding \u2013 and why it must be reexamined and reversed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bottom line is simple: EPA never had congressional authorization to regulate carbon dioxide (CO2) and other \u201cgreenhouse\u201d gases (GHGs). Moreover, EPA used its self-aggrandizing decision to launch perhaps the most egregious regulatory overreach in history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 1970 Clean Air Act specifically authorizes EPA to regulate sulfur dioxide, ozone, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and other named pollutants that \u201cendanger public health or welfare.\u201d Over the ensuing years, regulations and technologies have reduced emissions of these pollutants by 70-99% from motor vehicles<\/a> and coal-fired power plants<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Act never mentioned carbon dioxide, and Congress had rejected previous opportunities to add it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, several states sued EPA, claiming that greenhouse gases were causing dangerous climate change and thereby threatening the health and well-being of their citizens. In 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled<\/a> 5-4 that EPA could regulate those gases as well, if the agency found GHGs \u201cmay reasonably be anticipated to endanger\u201d Americans\u2019 health or welfare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2009, the Obama EPA issued a highly controversial finding that relied on cherry-picked \u201cscientific studies\u201d purporting to show that manmade CO2 was the primary factor in driving global temperature increases, climate change, more frequent and intense hurricanes, tornadoes, storms and droughts, sea level rise, etc. \u2013 and thus threatened people\u2019s health and well-being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EPA ignored voluminous studies that contradicted these claims; demonstrated that rising CO2 helps crops<\/a>, grasslands, and forests grow better, faster, and with less water; and showed that Earth\u2019s temperature and climate are changing only marginally, and mostly because of natural forces like the sun and cloud cover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other studies explained how our health and welfare<\/a> depend significantly on the energy, petrochemicals, heating, air conditioning, and transportation that EPA\u2019s actions were making less available and less affordable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s basic science that humans and animals inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide \u2013 and plants absorb CO2 and emit oxygen. Without this \u201cmiracle molecule,\u201d this trace gas (0.04% of the atmosphere), nearly all life on Earth would cease to exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the Obama and Biden EPA paid no attention to these facts. The agency quickly employed its Endangerment Finding to justify regulating almost any activity that uses or burns carbon or hydrocarbon energy or otherwise emits GHGs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The agency started with vehicles and coal-burning generating plants, added gas-fired power plants, and then began applying its regulatory overkill to oil and gas production and refining, cement kilns, factories, and even dairy farms, apartment buildings, and other components of our lives, livelihoods, and well-being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the name of preventing a manmade climate crisis, EPA used its bootstrapped GHG authority to compel America to convert<\/a> its fossil-fuel electricity generation system to weather-dependent, grid-destabilizing, economy-disrupting wind and solar energy; and to convert gas home and water heaters, and gasoline lawn mowers and vehicles, to electric models powered by this unreliable, inadequate electricity supply<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EPA likewise ignored the impacts that sprawling wind and solar installations have on habitats, birds, bats, and other wildlife; the automobile and grid-scale batteries that can catch fire<\/a>, emit toxic pollutants, and kill people; and recurring blackouts that disrupt business and lives \u2013 and kill people when blackouts occur on torrid or freezing cold days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The agency also glossed over the unprecedented mining<\/a> for metals and minerals to build windmills, solar panels, transmission lines, transformers, and batteries \u2013 often by Chinese companies that take advantage of cheap and child labor, nonexistent workplace safety and pollution control rules, and coal that generates 61% of China\u2019s electricity<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All these are vital aspects of any credible definition of human health and welfare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simply put, it is not carbon dioxide, other greenhouse gases, and climate change that endanger us. It is the ever-more-draconian rules that EPA was implementing before EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin arrived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Endangerment Finding was a travesty of science and the epitome of regulatory overreach. It is a perfect target for Supreme Court justices who have already begun reining in the Deep State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So let Friends of the Regulatory State sue EPA for daring to reconsider and rescind the Endangerment Finding. With the current makeup of the Supreme Court being what it is, and bolstered by West Virginia<\/em> <\/em>and Loper<\/em> Bright<\/em> <\/em>rulings that have not been friendly to radical climate ideologues, one can almost hear Lee Zeldin channel his inner Dirty Harry and quip, \u201cGo ahead, make my day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article originally appeared at TownHall<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":395613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","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_feature_clip_id":0,"_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":[691829997,691818056,691833596,691833292,691830175,691818154,691819094],"class_list":["post-395612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-carbon-dioxide-co","tag-climate-change","tag-endangerment-finding-ef","tag-epa-environmental-protection-agency","tag-greenhouse-gases-ghgs","tag-net-zero","tag-renewable-green-energy","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/00Lee-Zeldin-video-shuts-down-EPA-museum.jpg?fit=1658%2C938&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1EUQ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":425649,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=425649","url_meta":{"origin":395612,"position":0},"title":"EPA Endangerment Finding Was\u00a0Pre-Cooked","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/11\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) 2009 Endangerment Finding which determined that greenhouse gases (GHGs) like CO\u2082 endanger public health and welfare was predetermined politically rather than based on open scientific deliberation.","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-2026-02-11-100410.png?fit=1092%2C937&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0Screenshot-2026-02-11-100410.png?fit=1092%2C937&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0Screenshot-2026-02-11-100410.png?fit=1092%2C937&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0Screenshot-2026-02-11-100410.png?fit=1092%2C937&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0Screenshot-2026-02-11-100410.png?fit=1092%2C937&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":427141,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=427141","url_meta":{"origin":395612,"position":1},"title":"EPA\u2019s elegant arguments for endangerment repeal","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/20\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"EPA\u2019s arguments for repealing the Obama endangerment finding are simple, clear, and strong. So, they have a likely chance of winning in the Supreme Court (SCOTUS), which is where the final decision will be made.","rel":"","context":"In \"automobiles\"","block_context":{"text":"automobiles","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=automobiles"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-11-100410.png?fit=1092%2C937&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-11-100410.png?fit=1092%2C937&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-11-100410.png?fit=1092%2C937&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-11-100410.png?fit=1092%2C937&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-11-100410.png?fit=1092%2C937&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":427384,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=427384","url_meta":{"origin":395612,"position":2},"title":"Climate and Energy Experts Praise Trump\u2019s Endangerment Finding Repeal","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/22\/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":426214,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=426214","url_meta":{"origin":395612,"position":3},"title":"Trump Administration Ends Obama-Era Climate Finding, Repeals Vehicle GHG Standards","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/14\/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":425995,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=425995","url_meta":{"origin":395612,"position":4},"title":"Trump and Zeldin Deliver Single Largest Deregulatory Action in U.S. History","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/13\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"On February 12, 2026, President Donald Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced what they described as the single largest deregulatory action in U.S. history. This occurred during an event in the White House Roosevelt Room. The core of the action is the EPA's final rule repealing the 2009 Greenhouse\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"American dream\"","block_context":{"text":"American dream","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=american-dream"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0AQN0KhAmYkjSkAWpPLnH2R5K_gRWQqHTkycKyB7IWN58whr3XAQiPIsaYYmy-wd0-RKF3dLXpuzrDFKe5EgG8Fyoa5fyVLiEZ5zM6CotN7PsOLjZ3xujIDJ7zRDkhCXQ-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C723&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0AQN0KhAmYkjSkAWpPLnH2R5K_gRWQqHTkycKyB7IWN58whr3XAQiPIsaYYmy-wd0-RKF3dLXpuzrDFKe5EgG8Fyoa5fyVLiEZ5zM6CotN7PsOLjZ3xujIDJ7zRDkhCXQ-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C723&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0AQN0KhAmYkjSkAWpPLnH2R5K_gRWQqHTkycKyB7IWN58whr3XAQiPIsaYYmy-wd0-RKF3dLXpuzrDFKe5EgG8Fyoa5fyVLiEZ5zM6CotN7PsOLjZ3xujIDJ7zRDkhCXQ-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C723&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0AQN0KhAmYkjSkAWpPLnH2R5K_gRWQqHTkycKyB7IWN58whr3XAQiPIsaYYmy-wd0-RKF3dLXpuzrDFKe5EgG8Fyoa5fyVLiEZ5zM6CotN7PsOLjZ3xujIDJ7zRDkhCXQ-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C723&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0AQN0KhAmYkjSkAWpPLnH2R5K_gRWQqHTkycKyB7IWN58whr3XAQiPIsaYYmy-wd0-RKF3dLXpuzrDFKe5EgG8Fyoa5fyVLiEZ5zM6CotN7PsOLjZ3xujIDJ7zRDkhCXQ-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C723&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":427608,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=427608","url_meta":{"origin":395612,"position":5},"title":"Climate alarmists howl after EPA rescinds \u2018Endangerment Finding\u2019","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/23\/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\/395612","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=395612"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":395616,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395612\/revisions\/395616"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/395613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=395612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=395612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=395612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}