The EPA’s Endangerment Finding Belongs on the Ash Heap of History
By Marc Morano
February 6, 2025
By Chris Talgo
On January 20, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled “Unleashing American Energy,” which requires EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to “submit recommendations…on the legality and continuing applicability” of the Endangerment Finding within 30 days. Most Americans have probably never heard of the Endangerment Finding, however, this obscure rule has effectively allowed the federal government to label carbon dioxide a harmful “pollutant” that can be regulated under the Clean Air Act. This is a prime example of government gone wild. The Clean Air Act was never intended to allow the EPA to declare carbon dioxide to be a dangerous pollutant. Rather, it was designed to “address the public health and welfare risks posed by certain widespread air pollutants.” It is important to note that in 1963, when the Clear Air Act was initially passed, carbon dioxide was not listed as an “air pollutant.” Fast-forward to 1999. As the EPA notes, “On October 20, 1999, the International Center for Technology Assessment and 18 other environmental and renewable energy industry organizations filed a petition seeking the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from on-road vehicles under the Clean Air Act.” As happens all too often in our over litigious modern society, this “petition” eventually became a lawsuit. In 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Massachusetts v. EPA that “greenhouse gases are air pollutants covered by the Clean Air Act and that EPA must determine whether or not emissions of greenhouse gases from new motor vehicles cause or contribute to air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare.”
No comments:
Post a Comment