{"id":426541,"date":"2026-02-16T09:02:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T08:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=426541"},"modified":"2026-02-16T09:02:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T08:02:11","slug":"we-told-you-so-epa-was-wrong-about-co2-from-the-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=426541","title":{"rendered":"We Told You So: EPA Was Wrong About CO2 From the Start"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Wayne Christian<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For years, Washington politicians told the American people there was a carbon dioxide (CO2) \u201cproblem\u201d so serious it justified rewriting our entire energy economy. They claimed CO2 was dangerous, labeled it an \u201cendangerment,\u201d and used that finding as a blank check for regulation, mandates, and subsidies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us warned that this wasn\u2019t science\u2026 it was politics. Now, even the Environmental Protection Agency is backing away from that claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By repealing the so-called endangerment finding, the EPA has admitted what working Americans have known all along: CO2 was never the existential threat it was sold to be. This single regulatory reversal wipes out more than a trillion dollars in compliance costs and saves families thousands of dollars per vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But before taxpayers breathe a sigh of relief, we need to talk about the billions already wasted, and the billions more Washington still wants to spend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CO2 makes up about 0.04% of the Earth\u2019s atmosphere. It is essential for photosynthesis and life itself. Plants depend on it. Crops require it. Throughout Earth\u2019s history, life flourished when CO2 levels were far higher than today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet politicians treated this trace, life-supporting gas as if it were toxic waste. And once you convince people there\u2019s a \u201ccrisis,\u201d the spending never stops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now comes the most dangerous and dishonest phase of the carbon agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After telling Americans that CO2 is a menace, the same policymakers are asking taxpayers to fund massive carbon capture and underground sequestration projects, projects that would take a harmless, widely dispersed gas and turn it into a concentrated substance capable of killing people if it escapes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think about that. For decades, regulators told us their mission was to clean up environmental hazards, reduce risk, and protect public health. Now they want to create a new health and safety threat on purpose, inject it underground, and hope nothing goes wrong, all while sending the bill to taxpayers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is where the conversation always gets uncomfortable, because it exposes the truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every time you hear a multi-billion-dollar energy company brag about how\u00a0they<\/em>\u00a0are \u201clowering carbon\u201d or \u201ccleaning up emissions,\u201d ask two simple questions: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And who\u2019s paying?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now we know the answers. There is no real carbon emergency. And you\u2019re paying for it anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If carbon capture and sequestration were truly safe, proven, and economically viable, it wouldn\u2019t need massive government subsidies. It wouldn\u2019t rely on tax credits, grants, and federal guarantees. Companies would fund it themselves, just like every other productive investment in a free market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, taxpayers are being forced to bankroll projects that compress CO2 into dangerous concentrations, transport it across communities, and inject it underground near farms, water supplies, and homes. Regulators admit monitoring systems are incomplete. Long-term liability is unclear. And once the CO2 is injected, the public, not the corporation, will be left holding the risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That isn\u2019t environmental protection. That\u2019s regulatory insanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We talk a lot these days about cutting waste, fraud, and abuse. We talk about \u201cDOGE-ing\u201d government, doing away with bloated programs that don\u2019t solve real problems. Carbon capture subsidies should be at the top of that list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is corporate welfare disguised as climate policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is billions of taxpayer dollars spent to \u201csolve\u201d a problem politicians overstated, using technology that isn\u2019t proven at scale, while creating new safety risks that didn\u2019t previously exist. And it all happens while families struggle with higher energy bills, inflation, and an electric grid that is less reliable than it was a decade ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the global picture hasn\u2019t changed. The United States is told to cut emissions, while countries like China continue building coal plants at a staggering pace. Emissions aren\u2019t reduced, they\u2019re exported, along with jobs and energy security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EPA\u2019s repeal of the endangerment finding is a step back toward honesty. It acknowledges that CO2 is not the villain it was made out to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now policymakers need the courage to finish the job. That means ending the fear-based carbon narrative, stopping taxpayer handouts to politically favored corporations, and refusing to create new environmental and health risks in the name of virtue signaling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Americans don\u2019t need another green scheme. They need affordable, reliable energy, and a government that stops charging them to fix problems that never existed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Texas Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article was originally published by RealClearEnergy and made available via RealClearWire.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For years, Washington politicians told the American people there was a carbon dioxide (CO2) \u201cproblem\u201d so serious it justified rewriting our entire energy economy. They claimed CO2 was dangerous, labeled it an \u201cendangerment,\u201d and used that finding as a blank check for regulation, mandates, and subsidies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":426543,"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":[691826940,691829997,691818341,691819716,691820659,691833542,691818739,691820304],"class_list":{"0":"post-426541","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-carbon-capture","9":"tag-carbon-dioxide-co","10":"tag-china","11":"tag-climate-policy","12":"tag-coal-plants","13":"tag-endangerment-finding","14":"tag-environmental-protection-agency","15":"tag-united-states","17":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQMBXo1p2s7fDN4SfLWtfyibQr24rHCsUv_1MkXe5UeUrWKBvKgzoCz0mwlmCntxPDGTGNgTxqrCHsy5vnInCAO04tKpGLl4EWUjXO3_TGvSz3TlGdee8Nfr2f-tla8kp4INbLqrxcTz4t6dKPYFfQ54jlVbKw-1.jpeg?fit=1280%2C1280&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1MXH","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":426833,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=426833","url_meta":{"origin":426541,"position":0},"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":426541,"position":1},"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 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\u2018One Small Step for Climate Sanity, One Giant Leap for Democracy\u2019","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"03\/07\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"EPA loses \u2013 America Wins\u2019: Supreme Court rules against overreach by EPA Climate Depot\u2019s Morano: \u201cThat\u2019s one small step for climate sanity, one giant leap for democracy.\u00a0Today\u2019s Supreme Court ruling reigning in the power of the unelected bureaucracy to essentially regulate every aspect of the American economy under the guise\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/image-20.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/image-20.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, 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Perhaps even an accusation of \u201cdenying science.\u201d For nearly two decades, political forces successfully branded this life-giving gas a toxic agent, a cause of both floods and droughts and a thief of the grandchildren\u2019s future. 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Reason and good sense would have the EPA remove the Endangerment Finding\u2019s hold over industrial emissions of greenhouse gases, like those coming from power plants, and would undertake to dismantle the rule\u2019s flimsy scientific justifications.","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\/AQNhqY13DgIlFBEJ9wEB3DCbjHAlkS-OfUFWrf8uwXlEpyk1Mybamm-uPGq78tLjN_jc3Wr1Qj8j-GIy3O904iQHH11qd8xehFGf8I-vihgjW0eCpeQPpyhP9yd7BOMYAQgS2JiGDTLEP_EN3ZENnqsfPLJ3RQ-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQNhqY13DgIlFBEJ9wEB3DCbjHAlkS-OfUFWrf8uwXlEpyk1Mybamm-uPGq78tLjN_jc3Wr1Qj8j-GIy3O904iQHH11qd8xehFGf8I-vihgjW0eCpeQPpyhP9yd7BOMYAQgS2JiGDTLEP_EN3ZENnqsfPLJ3RQ-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQNhqY13DgIlFBEJ9wEB3DCbjHAlkS-OfUFWrf8uwXlEpyk1Mybamm-uPGq78tLjN_jc3Wr1Qj8j-GIy3O904iQHH11qd8xehFGf8I-vihgjW0eCpeQPpyhP9yd7BOMYAQgS2JiGDTLEP_EN3ZENnqsfPLJ3RQ-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQNhqY13DgIlFBEJ9wEB3DCbjHAlkS-OfUFWrf8uwXlEpyk1Mybamm-uPGq78tLjN_jc3Wr1Qj8j-GIy3O904iQHH11qd8xehFGf8I-vihgjW0eCpeQPpyhP9yd7BOMYAQgS2JiGDTLEP_EN3ZENnqsfPLJ3RQ-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQNhqY13DgIlFBEJ9wEB3DCbjHAlkS-OfUFWrf8uwXlEpyk1Mybamm-uPGq78tLjN_jc3Wr1Qj8j-GIy3O904iQHH11qd8xehFGf8I-vihgjW0eCpeQPpyhP9yd7BOMYAQgS2JiGDTLEP_EN3ZENnqsfPLJ3RQ-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426541","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=426541"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426541\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":426545,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426541\/revisions\/426545"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/426543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=426541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=426541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=426541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}