A major emissions rollback may be incoming
According to new reports published by the Washington Post and the New York Times, the Environmental Protection Agency, the government agency tasked with environmental protection matters, is proposing to roll back the clock by rescinding a landmark legal opinion set nearly sixteen years ago that established that greenhouse gas emissions put human health at risk.
Two people familiar with the matter told the Post that the opinion in question is what’s known as the “endangerment finding.” Published in 2009, the finding formally established that greenhouse gas emissions such as those from cars and power plants are dangerous to public health and welfare and provided the legal justification for regulating them under the Clean Air Act.
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Nixing the 2009 “endangerment finding” is a goal for EPA’s Zeldin
According to the two individual sources who spoke with the Post, a decision to completely rescind the endangerment finding is still a draft proposal and could be subject to change. However, both sources noted that such a proposal would, in turn, eliminate all resulting limits on motor vehicle greenhouse gas emissions.
In a statement to the Post, the EPA said that it sent its proposal to the Office of Management and Budget on June 30 but did not give details on the draft policy’s contents. However, the proposal will be published for public comment after going through interagency review.
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The idea of recinding or reconsidering the 2009 “endangerment finding” is one of many potential environmental rollbacks announced by Trump-appointed EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. In a statement released on March 12, Zeldin announced the agency will formally reconsider the 2009 decision, adding that it “intends to reconsider all of its prior regulations and actions that rely on the Endangerment Finding.”
“The Trump Administration will not sacrifice national prosperity, energy security, and the freedom of our people for an agenda that throttles our industries, our mobility, and our consumer choice while benefiting adversaries overseas,” Administrator Zeldin said in the March 2025 statement. “We will follow the science, the law, and common sense wherever it leads, and we will do so while advancing our commitment towards helping to deliver cleaner, healthier, and safer air, land, and water.”
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A potential EPA rollback can result in a triple-whammy of auto industry deregulation
The text in the 2009 “endangerment finding” has helped guide lawmakers in enacting regulations on emissions control in various industries beyond the car industry, especially in those centered around the use of fossil-fueled engines, such as commercial aviation and the energy sector. Skeptics of climate change have long criticized this finding, arguing that the Clean Air Act is not suitable for regulating greenhouse gases. Nonetheless, this development follows two key deregulatory auto industry amendments through the recently signed “Big Beautiful Bill.”
One key provision of the thousand-page legislation eliminated fines for automakers failing to meet Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) rules, making it easier for automakers to build more gas-powered vehicles. According to a 2023 Reuters report, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) fined Detroit mainstay GM over $128.2 million for failing to meet CAFE rules during the 2016 and 2017 model years. In addition, the bill also eliminated federal tax credits for new and used EV purchases, which gave up to $7,500 off the purchase of a new EV and up to $4,000 off the purchase of a used EV.
Final thoughts
Due to the nature of these processes, the EPA is likely to face lengthy challenges from lawmakers and environmental groups, who argue that this is another effort by the Trump administration to stall U.S. efforts to tackle global warming.
“The White House is trying to turn back the clock and re-litigate both the science and the law,” Vickie Patton, general counsel for the Environmental Defense Fund, an environmental group, told the New York Times.