EPA Unveils Major Greenhouse Gas Deregulation Plan

EPA Proposes to Rescind Obama-Era Environmental Finding

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a proposal to rescind an Obama-era environmental finding that has had significant implications for the automobile industry. According to the EPA chief, this policy has cost $1 trillion in regulations. Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the EPA, made this announcement on Tuesday during a visit to an auto dealership in Indianapolis, Indiana. The 2009 Endangerment Finding is being targeted for rescission, as it is believed to have laid the groundwork for the Biden administration's electric vehicle mandate, which aims to reduce the production of gas-powered vehicles.

Zeldin’s EPA argues that if the proposal is finalized, it will lead to the repeal of all "resulting greenhouse gas emissions regulations for motor vehicles and engines." This change, according to the agency, would enhance consumer choice and affordability while saving over $54 billion annually. The EPA claims that the 2009 Endangerment Finding became a "legal prerequisite" for regulating emissions from new motor vehicles and engines.

In support of the proposal, the agency cites new scientific data that challenges the assumptions behind the 2009 Endangerment Finding. The EPA chief contends that the Obama and Biden administrations used "warped science" to push through new emission standards.

"In our work so far, many stakeholders have told me that the Obama and Biden EPAs twisted the law, ignored precedent, and warped science to achieve their preferred ends and stick American families with hundreds of billions of dollars in hidden taxes every single year," said Zeldin. "We heard loud and clear the concern that EPA's GHG emissions standards themselves, not carbon dioxide which the Finding never assessed independently, was the real threat to Americans' livelihoods. If finalized, rescinding the Endangerment Finding and resulting regulations would end $1 trillion or more in hidden taxes on American businesses and families."

However, former vice president and environmental activist Al Gore has criticized the move, claiming it ignores the "reality" of climate change. He stated that the EPA's announcement disregards the obvious reality of the climate crisis and sidelines the agency's own scientists and lawyers in favor of the interests and profits of the fossil fuel industry. Gore argued that weakening safeguards that reduce greenhouse gas pollution will harm American competitiveness in a global economy that is moving away from oil, gas, and coal. He also highlighted that this move would increase the suffering of communities overburdened by the dirty co-pollutants caused by burning fossil fuels.

On the other hand, Chris Spear, president and CEO of the American Trucking Association, commends the proposal, stating that the Obama-era finding threatens the trucking industry. He said, "We commend President Trump and EPA Administrator Zeldin for taking decisive action to rescind the disastrous GHG Phase 3 rule. This electric-truck mandate put the trucking industry on a path to economic ruin and would have crippled our supply chain, disrupted deliveries, and raised prices for American families and businesses. Moreover, it kicked innovation to the curb by discarding available technologies that can further drive down emissions at a fraction of the cost. For four decades, our industry has proven that we are committed to reducing emissions. The trucking industry supports cleaner, more efficient technologies, but we need policies rooted in real-world conditions."