Trump Administration Tries to Eliminate Endangerment Finding, Clean Car and Clean Truck Standards

“The Trump administration today will propose to eliminate some of our most vital tools to protect people from the pollution that causes climate change. Americans are already suffering from stronger hurricanes, more severe heat waves and floods, and more frequent fires. They are watching these climate disasters get worse, the danger to their lives and health intensify, and their power and insurance bills go up.

“The response of the Trump administration is to try to repeal the scientific finding that climate-altering pollution endangers public health. They will also propose overturning the Clean Vehicles Standards, which reduce climate pollution from its largest source in the U.S. These actions would lead to a predictable result – if there are no enforced limits on pollution, you get more of it, making life more expensive and even more dangerous. The stakes could not be higher for Americans.

“The Endangerment Finding is built on a rock-solid scientific foundation that has gotten even stronger over time. In 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Massachusetts v. EPA that climate-altering greenhouse gases are air pollutants under the Clean Air Act. In 2009, after evaluating a mountain of scientific evidence and considering extensive public input, EPA came to the inescapable conclusion that they endanger health and welfare. Since then, the body of scientific evidence supporting the Endangerment Finding has grown even larger and more compelling, and the Finding has supported commonsense solutions that reduce pollution, give us cleaner air, and protect our health and our jobs.

“The Clean Car and Clean Truck Standards are among the most successful of those commonsense solutions. New passenger vehicles now emit much less climate pollution than they used to. The standards also reduce other types of pollution that cause premature deaths and heart and lung diseases, they help Americans save thousands of dollars on fuel and maintenance costs, and they support American manufacturing jobs.

“But now the Trump administration is trying to steer us away from all those benefits and toward dirtier, more dangerous, and more destructive air. EDF is intensely opposed to their attempt to erase the Endangerment Finding and the Clean Car and Clean Truck Standards. We will keep fighting for sound science, clean air, common sense and affordable climate solutions, and a better future for our children.”

            - Fred Krupp, president, Environmental Defense Fund