MADISON – In a move that clearly puts the health and lives of people below corporate polluters’ profits, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under Donald Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zelden, rescinded the Endangerment Finding today.
In 2009, the EPA found that carbon pollution, methane, and four other climate pollutants endanger public health, leading to the establishment of the Endangerment Finding. For years, the Endangerment Finding has been used as the basis for producing fuel efficient cars and curbing toxic greenhouse gas pollution from polluters.
This rollback ignores mountains of climate science, Congress’ 2022 designation of carbon pollution as an “air pollutant,” and the clear decision from the U.S. Supreme Court in Massachusetts v. EPA that the EPA has the obligation to protect Americans from dangerous greenhouse gas emissions. It threatens the health of Wisconsin families, puts clean energy jobs at risk, and will raise energy costs even higher than they already are, taking money out of Wisconsinites’ pockets.
Federal Government Affairs Manager Casey Hicks made this statement:
“It’s abundantly clear that Donald Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zelden have abandoned the EPA’s mission to protect human health and the environment with this move, and others.
With the recent decision to stop considering the cost of lost lives and health impacts, to now revoking the Endangerment Finding, Donald Trump has made benefits to corporate polluters the EPA’s new mission. This decision will directly harm Wisconsinites, leading to higher rates of asthma among children, worsening heart conditions, and more extreme weather events that can upend people’s lives.
Within one year Donald Trump has already eclipsed the environmental damage he caused in his first term, costing us more for our healthcare and energy bills.”
