The United States just watched a huge shift in environmental policy, as Trump revoked the basis of US climate regulation, tossing aside the long-held scientific conclusion that greenhouse gas emissions harm public health. With this move, federal rules on car and truck emissions are gone, and it’s the biggest climate policy rollback of his time in office. Standing in Washington with Lee Zeldin and budget director Russ Vought, Trump called the repeal the “biggest deregulatory action in U.S. history.” The EPA backed him up, arguing that the old rules rested on a bad reading of federal clean air laws.

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End of the 2009 Endangerment Finding

Back in 2009, the government made what’s called the “endangerment finding” under Obama. That decision allowed the EPA to regulate carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act of 1963. The Supreme Court had already cleared the way for this in the 2007 case Massachusetts v. EPA.

Now that the findings are gone, automakers no longer have to track, report, or follow federal greenhouse gas standards for their vehicles. Right now, this rollback mainly hits cars and trucks, not power plants. According to EPA data, both the transportation sector and the power generation sector each account for about a quarter of the country’s GHGs.

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Clash over Economic and Environmental Impact

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said that eliminating automobile emissions would save U.S. taxpayers $1.3 trillion. The authorities have said the past administration’s regulations are expensive and burdensome for the automotive industry, which is especially true given the mixed market for electric vehicles.

Former President Joe Biden’s plan was for the EPA to reduce emissions from passenger vehicle tailpipes by nearly 50% in 2032 compared to projected 2027 levels. The agency projected $99 billion in net benefits each year through 2055, including fuel costs of $46 billion and maintenance costs of $16 billion. Customers would save around $6,000 over the life of the vehicle.

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Legal Battles and Industry Reactions

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation noted that complying with current regulations is very challenging given today’s demand for electric vehicles (EVs). Environmental organizations, such as the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Environmental Defense Fund, threatened to file lawsuits immediately because of the increased risk of air pollution and climate degradation from this change.

Many legal analysts now believe that if the endangerment finding is reversed and new public nuisance lawsuits are filed (possibly reopening many old cases), it would create yet another source of uncertainty. The administration has stated that, although they expect to face several lawsuits, their goal in reversing this regulation is to restore the regulatory limits originally enacted by Congress (and the intent behind them) to their original scope. Trump revoked the basis of US climate regulation and is a clear example of a dramatic shift in America’s environmental policy paradigm, with far-reaching effects around the world.

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