AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for the American Future applauds the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to rescind the 2009 Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding, a necessary correction of legal violations and regulatory overreach that has imposed massive costs on American families and businesses for over a decade.
The Obama-era finding classified greenhouse gases as harmful “air pollutants” under the Clean Air Act, triggering a cascade of regulations affecting mining, manufacturing, transportation, construction, agriculture, and energy production. The Foundation had previously submitted detailed comments on behalf of Liberty Packing Company LLC, Nuckles Oil Co. Inc. dba Merit Oil Company, Western States Trucking Association, and Construction Industry Air Quality Coalition outlining multiple fundamental flaws with the finding.
“EPA’s decision to pull back its regulations requiring the electrification of cars and trucks throughout the nation is both wise and legally sound. Neither the Clean Air Act nor any other federal law permits EPA to arrogate to itself such broad authority over our national economy,” said Ted Hadzi-Antich, senior attorney with the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for the American Future.
“Today’s rescission of the EPA’s 2009 endangerment finding restores common sense: carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring, life-sustaining gas, not a traditional pollutant, and it should not be regulated as if it were. The 2009 finding was pushed through on a shaky legal and scientific record, and we support this reset toward transparent, accountable policymaking,” said Robert Henneke, executive director and general counsel of the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for the American Future.
“The EPA’s original finding failed to demonstrate that the moderate warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions is endangering public health, ignoring evidence like the fact that climate-related deaths have plummeted by 98% over the past century,” said Dr. Brent Bennett, policy director for Life:Powered at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. “We applaud the EPA for rejecting flawed climate models and speculation and returning to sound science.”
The Endangerment Finding had served as the legal foundation for sweeping regulations across virtually every sector of the American economy, imposing billions in compliance costs while providing negligible climate benefits. Among the most burdensome were EPA vehicle regulations that required at least 45% of trucks and 70% of cars to be all-electric by 2032, while previous attempts like the Clean Power Plan sought to force electricity generators away from reliable fossil fuels.
The Foundation’s comments had documented that greenhouse gases differ fundamentally from traditional air pollutants regulated under the Clean Air Act. While pollutants like particulate matter cause direct harm to human health in local areas, CO₂ is essential to plant life, globally distributed, and affects climate indirectly over decades through uncertain mechanisms. Additionally, the EPA had abdicated its scientific responsibilities by relying almost entirely on assessments from international organizations rather than conducting independent analysis.
We look forward to the judicial review of this rule and hope it sets a strong precedent that the EPA cannot further regulate greenhouse gases.