Why the EPA’s Latest Move Could Worsen the Climate Crisis

Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a sweeping effort to do away with the endangerment finding , a proposal that not only disregards science but also has huge consequences for stemming the climate crisis .

This 2009 legal determination is based on extensive scientific evidence that says heat-trapping emissions from activities like the burning of fossil fuels are driving climate change and posing a threat to human health and welfare. This scientific finding, which followed a 2007 Supreme Court ruling that heat-trapping emissions are pollutants covered under the Clean Air Act, firmly established EPA’s authority and responsibility to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, power plants, oil and gas operations, and other sources of these pollutants.