Trump ditches key US climate rule as warming risks surge.

The US has revoked what’s known as the endangerment finding, an Obama-era scientific finding central to US actions against climate change. Experts say the shift comes at a fragile point for the warming planet.

Trump ditches key US climate rule as warming risks surge

The US has revoked what’s known as the endangerment finding, an Obama-era scientific finding central to US actions against climate change. Experts say the shift comes at a fragile point for the warming planet.

The dome of the US Capitol is seen behind the emissions, and a smokestack, from the natural gas fired Capitol Power Plant
The endangerment finding has played a role in protecting human health from industrial emissions
In what the White House has described as the “largest deregulatory action in American history,” President Donald Trump has undone a key scientific finding that has been the cornerstone of United States efforts to fight climate change for more than 16 years.

Speaking at the White House on Thursday, the president officially rescinded a 2009 government declaration known as the endangerment finding. It has served as a key part of the green policies later introduced by former Democratic presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

“This determination had no basis in fact, had none whatsoever, and no basis in law,” Trump said at the White House on Thursday.

“This was all a scam, a giant scam,” he added, dismissing concerns that the repeal could cost lives by worsening climate change.

What is the 2009 endangerment finding?
The landmark scientific finding, issued by the Environmental Protection Agency in December 2009, was the legal framework that allowed the EPA to regulate planet-warming emissions seen as a threat to “public health and welfare of current and future generations.”

A previous ruling by the Supreme Court gave the agency the authority to enact policies that targeted heat-trapping emissions — carbon dioxide, methane and other pollutants.

The policies first targeted car and truck exhaust, and later expanded to include emissions from coal and gas-fired power plants and the oil and gas industry.
The Trump administration has questioned the science behind the 2009 decision, arguing that the effects of emissions on human health are indirect and that US regulation is insufficient to tackle a global problem.

But scientists and environment experts have widely backed the finding, with the non-profit American Geophysical Union saying it is “grounded in decades of rigorous, peer-reviewed climate science.”

Trump and his administration have argued that the EPA’s finding gave the federal government too much power, holding back businesses and innovation and raising prices.
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Trump ditches key US climate rule as warming risks surge
Martin Kuebler
7 hours ago7 hours ago
The US has revoked what’s known as the endangerment finding, an Obama-era scientific finding central to US actions against climate change. Experts say the shift comes at a fragile point for the warming
The dome of the US Capitol is seen behind the emissions, and a smokestack, from the natural gas fired Capitol Power Plant
The endangerment finding has played a role in protecting human health from industrial emissionsImage: Jim Lo Scalzo/dpa/picture alliance
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In what the White House has described as the “largest deregulatory action in American history,” President Donald Trump has undone a key scientific finding that has been the cornerstone of United States efforts to fight climate change for more than 16 years.

Speaking at the White House on Thursday, the president officially rescinded a 2009 government declaration known as the endangerment finding. It has served as a key part of the green policies later introduced by former Democratic presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

“This determination had no basis in fact, had none whatsoever, and no basis in law,” Trump said at the White House on Thursday.

“This was all a scam, a giant scam,” he added, dismissing concerns that the repeal could cost lives by worsening climate change.

What is the 2009 endangerment finding?
The landmark scientific finding, issued by the Environmental Protection Agency in December 2009, was the legal framework that allowed the EPA to regulate planet-warming emissions seen as a threat to “public health and welfare of current and future generations.”

A previous ruling by the Supreme Court gave the agency the authority to enact policies that targeted heat-trapping emissions — carbon dioxide, methane and other pollutants.

The policies first targeted car and truck exhaust, and later expanded to include emissions from coal and gas-fired power plants and the oil and gas industry.

Attendees holding signs during a Trump campaign event in 2024. The signs read “Drill Baby Dril”Attendees holding signs during a Trump campaign event in 2024. The signs read “Drill Baby Dril”
Trump was open about his plans to drill for more oil during his second term in officeImage: AP Photo/Alex Brandon/picture alliance
The Trump administration has questioned the science behind the 2009 decision, arguing that the effects of emissions on human health are indirect and that US regulation is insufficient to tackle a global problem.

But scientists and environment experts have widely backed the finding, with the non-profit American Geophysical Union saying it is “grounded in decades of rigorous, peer-reviewed climate science.”

Trump and his administration have argued that the EPA’s finding gave the federal government too much power, holding back businesses and innovation and raising prices.

US is giving up on climate — others are cashing in

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“Many stakeholders have told me that the Obama and Biden EPAs twisted the law, ignored precedent, and warped science to achieve their preferred ends,” said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin in July 2025. He said the costs related to greenhouse gas regulations for cars and trucks had been a “real threat to Americans’ livelihoods.”

The White House has said undoing the environmental regulation will expand access to affordable, reliable energy. Trump added Thursday that the move would save Americans more than $1.3 trillion by removing regulatory requirements related to vehicle emissions standards, and other related programs.

What does this mean for US climate efforts?
With the endangerment finding eliminated, the EPA will lose its ability to use the 1963 Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gases.

“It represents a complete US step away from renewable energy and energy efficiency in favor of full embrace of expanded production and use of fossil fuels, including coal, oil and natural gas,” Barry Rabe, environmental and public policy professor at the University of Michigan, told DW in July 2025.

The repeal of the endangerment finding will slow efforts to require the US auto industry to sell less-polluting cars and trucks, while curtailing federal support for the growing electric vehicle sector. The previous Biden administration had set a goal to have EVs (electric vehicles) make up at least 50% of new car sales by 2030.

“The transportation sector is the single largest source of US global heat-trapping emissions,” said Gretchen Goldman, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit science advocacy organization, in a statement on Thursday.

She added: “Ramming through this unlawful, destructive action at the behest of polluters is an obvious example of what happens when a corrupt administration and fossil fuel interests are allowed to run amok.”- Dw