Trump revokes greenhouse gas health findings, cancels emissions standards

The administration of US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday (February 12) the revocation of scientific findings that greenhouse gas emissions are harmful to human health, along with the cancellation of vehicle exhaust emissions standards for cars and trucks, Reuters reported.

This move marks the largest cancellation of climate change policy by this administration to date, following the removal of regulations and actions aimed at promoting fossil fuel development while hindering the growth of clean energy.

"Under the process just completed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), we are officially terminating the so-called endangerment finding, a disastrous Obama-era policy that severely damaged the American auto industry and drove up prices for American consumers," Trump said, adding that it was the biggest deregulatory action in US history.

The EPA issued a statement explaining that the findings regarding the danger of greenhouse gases were based on an incorrect interpretation of federal clean air laws, which are designed primarily to protect Americans from harmful local or regional pollution, rather than addressing global climate change.

"This flawed legal theory took the agency outside the scope of its statutory authority in multiple respects," it said.

Trump announced the cancellation of the findings alongside EPA administrator Lee Zeldin and Russ Vought, the White House Budget Director, both of whom had long been pushing for this reversal and played key roles in planning conservative policies under Project 2025.

Trump has previously stated that he believes climate change is a "con job" and withdrew the US from the Paris Agreement, leaving the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases outside of global efforts to combat climate change.

He also signed legislation repealing tax incentives from the Biden administration that supported electric vehicles and clean energy.

Former President Barack Obama criticised the move on X, stating that without the endangerment finding, "we’ll be less safe, less healthy, and less able to fight climate change — all so the fossil fuel industry can make even more money."

These findings were first recognised by the US in 2009 and led to EPA action under the Clean Air Act of 1963, aiming to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, methane, and other heat-trapping pollutants from vehicles, power plants, and other industries.

The cancellation of this law will eliminate federal regulations for measuring, reporting, certifying, and complying with vehicle greenhouse gas emissions standards. However, it may initially not cover stationary sources of pollution, such as power plants.

The EPA stated that revoking and ceasing the use of vehicle emissions standards would save American taxpayers US$1.3 trillion, while the previous administration argued that the regulations would have benefited consumers by lowering fuel costs and providing other savings.

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, representing major car manufacturers, did not support the action but said, "automotive emissions regulations finalised in the previous administration are extremely challenging for automakers to achieve given the current marketplace demand for EVs."

Meanwhile, the coal industry welcomed Thursday's announcement, as it could help delay the closure of older coal-fired power plants.

The Environmental Defence Fund (EDF) warned that the cancellation of the regulations would result in higher costs for Americans, even though the EPA had stated that climate regulations had increased consumer costs.

"Administrator Lee Zeldin has directed EPA to stop protecting the American people from the pollution that's causing worse storms, floods, and skyrocketing insurance costs," said EDF President Fred Krupp. "This action will only lead to more of this pollution, and that will lead to higher costs and real harms for American families."