{"id":427608,"date":"2026-02-23T19:30:45","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T18:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=427608"},"modified":"2026-02-24T01:00:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T00:00:14","slug":"climate-alarmists-howl-after-epa-rescinds-endangerment-finding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=427608","title":{"rendered":"Climate alarmists howl after EPA rescinds \u2018Endangerment Finding\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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

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

By Paul Driessen<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US Environmental Protection Agency has finally rescinded the 2009 Endangerment Finding<\/a> (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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The action follows an extensive review of scientific evidence, legal and constitutional principles, and 572,000 public comments (534,000 via mass comment campaigns).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin called it \u201cthe single largest deregulatory action in US history.\u201d Just eliminating federal GHG emission standards for vehicles (model years 2012\u20132027 and beyond) will save American taxpayers over $1.3 trillion, EPA estimates. They will no longer have to pay for measuring, reporting, certifying and complying with federal GHG vehicle emission standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EPA had attached endangerment tailpipe emission standards to impossible-to-meet 50.4 mpg fuel economy requirements \u2013 effectively banning internal combustion engines and forcing people to buy electric models. Now motorists can buy the cars and light trucks they choose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scrapping the hated automatic stop\/start \u201cfeature\u201d will save consumers $2,400 per vehicle \u2013 and hopefully let us have repair shops disable it. Anyone who\u2019s tried to merge into moving traffic from even a brief stop knows how maddening and dangerous this gimmick is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Future actions will likely eradicate endangerment diktats on coal and gas power plants that generate electricity for the grid. That will keep electricity costs affordable and ensure we have power when we need it: for lights, heat, AC, refrigerators, stoves, computers, entertainment, hospitals, schools, shops, offices, traffic lights, data centers and banking \u2013 not just on average days, but during winter storms<\/a> and summer heatwaves. No Net Zero wind-solar-battery system yet devised can do that, at any price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Endangerment reversal generated predictable howls of outrage<\/a> from factions with economic or ideological stakes in the Obama ruling and tomes of regulations promulgated in its wake. They\u2019ll no longer be able to dictate energy, economic and consumer choices. The rest of us should rejoice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EF originated with Massachusetts v. EPA<\/em><\/a> (2007). The US Supreme Court said EPA could regulate GHGs if the agency found that they \u201ccause or contribute\u201d to \u201cair pollution\u201d that may be \u201creasonably anticipated\u201d to \u201cendanger public health or welfare\u201d by causing dangerous climate and weather changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Obama EPA twisted and tortured science, history and common sense to fit the Court ruling and promulgated the Endangerment decree. Officially, the 2007 ruling has not been reversed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the Trump EPA\u2019s extensive final rule rescinding the EF demonstrates that Mass v EPA<\/em> has effectively been reversed \u2013 and certainly rendered irrelevant by subsequent Supreme Court decisions, evidence-based science and international reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* Legal and constitutional rulings torpedo and sink the 2009 Endangerment dreadnaught.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In West Virginia v. EPA<\/em> (2022) the Court ruled that federal agencies may not violate the \u201cmajor questions doctrine,\u201d which states that, in the absence of clear congressional direction or authorization<\/em>, agencies may not make decisions or issue regulations \u201cof vast economic and political significance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Clean Air Act (CAA) does not include life-giving carbon dioxide as a pollutant. It provides no legislative language or other authorization for EPA to unilaterally declare that CO2 is a pollutant that would somehow \u201cendanger public health or welfare\u201d by causing or contributing to climate disruptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EPA nevertheless did precisely that \u2013 and used the Endangerment declaration to give itself effective control over the nation\u2019s transportation, electricity generation, petrochemical and other industries; its economy, employment and living standards. EF regulations have impacts of undeniably \u201cvast economic and political significance,\u201d making them impermissible and unconstitutional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Supreme Court ruling in Loper Bright v. Raimondo<\/em> (2024) restricted EPA\u2019s discretion and assertion of power even further. That case overturned the Court\u2019s 1984 decision in Chevron v. NRDC<\/em> and ended judicial deference to government agencies (the \u201cChevron doctrine\u201d). Bureaucrats may no longer devise self-proclaimed \u201creasonable interpretations\u201d of unclear statutory language, if those interpretations would significantly expand regulatory powers or inflate private sector costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EPA\u2019s Endangerment Finding doesn\u2019t have a legal or constitutional leg to stand on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* Evidence-based science gives EPA no foundation for declaring CO2 a dangerous pollutant.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike pollutants listed in the CAA, carbon dioxide is nontoxic. Indeed, it is essential to planetary life. Humans and animals exhale it when they breathe; plants absorb CO2 during photosynthesis and emit oxygen. More atmospheric CO2 helps plants grow better, faster and with less water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Endangerment proponents offer little more than baseless hair-raising assertions about climate calamities already upon us \u2026 and future catastrophes predicted by computer models based on GHGs controlling Earth\u2019s climate. It\u2019s Monty Python in Search of the Holy Grail<\/a> of climate control \u2013 and ultimately control of American and world economies and living standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But as EPA\u2019s new analysis, thousands of scientists, and reams of data and evidence demonstrate, this fearmongering does not reflect planetary reality. Average global temperatures<\/a> have increased only slightly in 100 years; many US temperature records set in the 1930s still stand; and many alleged recent historic highs were recorded at airports and urban areas<\/a> (heat islands).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hurricane frequency and intensity<\/a> likewise show minimal change since 1865; no Category 3-5 hurricanes struck the USA for a record twelve years, 10\/2005\u201308\/2017; and tornado frequency and intensity<\/a> have actually declined<\/em> since 1950.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no real-world evidence that CO2 or other GHGs have replaced the complex solar, cosmic and other natural forces that have brought numerous climate fluctuations<\/a> throughout Earth history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* Even total US elimination of fossil fuels would be a <\/strong>multi-trillion-dollar<\/strong><\/a> lesson in futility.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

China emits one-third<\/a> of global greenhouse gases, more than all developed nations combined. India and Indonesia add another tenth. They\u2019re building new coal-fired power plants every month, to raise their people\u2019s living standards and become global powers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In still-destitute countries, billions have minimal, sporadic access to electricity 750 million have no access<\/a>. They are constructing coal and gas power plants, industrializing, driving cars \u2013 and emitting GHGs at ever-increasing rates, to improve and save millions of lives. US emissions are irrelevant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* The real dangers to our health and welfare come from eliminating<\/em> fossil fuels.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wind and solar power were de minimis<\/em> during Winter Storm Fern<\/a>. So was New England\u2019s expected Canadian electricity. Coal, gas and nuclear power came to the rescue. Without them, thousands of lives would likely have been lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oil, natural gas and coal still provide over 80% of total US<\/a> primary energy consumption \u2013 plus irreplaceable feedstocks for more than 6,000 medical, pharmaceutical, communication, construction, transportation and other products. Without fossil fuels, our lives would revert to 1900 or earlier.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any actual endangerment to our health and welfare does not arise from using<\/em> fossil fuels \u2013 and possibly adding a smidgeon to adverse (or beneficial) climate and weather changes. It comes from eliminating<\/em> fossil fuels, relying on \u201crenewable\u201d energy that\u2019s missing when most needed, and denying humanity thousands of essential petrochemical products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no basis for the DC Court of Appeals and US Supreme Court to do anything but affirm the Trump-Zeldin reversal of the ignominious, destructive Obama Era Endangerment Finding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":427613,"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":[691841584,691829997,691818721,691820891,691833091,691841606,691837801,691818154,691829231,691841092],"class_list":["post-427608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-2009-endangerment-finding-ef","tag-carbon-dioxide-co","tag-climate-alarmists","tag-climate-control","tag-epa-administrator-lee-zeldin","tag-ghg-vehicle-emission-standards","tag-greenhouse-gas-emissions-ghgs","tag-net-zero","tag-us-environmental-protection-agency-epa","tag-winter-storm-fern","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-12-184328.png?fit=1033%2C937&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1NeU","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":426214,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=426214","url_meta":{"origin":427608,"position":0},"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":395612,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=395612","url_meta":{"origin":427608,"position":1},"title":"Breathing Easier: EPA\u2019s Bold Move to Axe the \u2018Endangerment Finding\u2019","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"08\/16\/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":426833,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=426833","url_meta":{"origin":427608,"position":2},"title":"Endangerment Finding Rescission Victory for Science and Law","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/18\/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":427141,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=427141","url_meta":{"origin":427608,"position":3},"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. 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Here is the first effort by a leftist group against that.","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\/04\/00Screenshot-2025-04-11-190119.png?fit=1200%2C659&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/00Screenshot-2025-04-11-190119.png?fit=1200%2C659&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/00Screenshot-2025-04-11-190119.png?fit=1200%2C659&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/00Screenshot-2025-04-11-190119.png?fit=1200%2C659&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/00Screenshot-2025-04-11-190119.png?fit=1200%2C659&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":368180,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=368180","url_meta":{"origin":427608,"position":5},"title":"Much Harm and No Good from EPA Greenhouse Rule: Kill It","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"03\/01\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","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\/03\/0EPA_News-scaled-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C742&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0EPA_News-scaled-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C742&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0EPA_News-scaled-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C742&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0EPA_News-scaled-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C742&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0EPA_News-scaled-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C742&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427608","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=427608"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427608\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":427659,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427608\/revisions\/427659"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/427613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=427608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=427608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=427608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}