Trump revokes EPA finding that enabled greenhouse gas regulation nationwide.
Rollback weakens vehicle, power plant and oil sector emission standards.
Decision signals US retreat from federal climate action framework.
US President Donald Trump has reversed a scientific ruling from the Obama-era that serves as the legal foundation for federal regulations to limit greenhouse gas emissions on February 12.
According to BBC, the Environmental Protection Agency’s endangerment finding, established under President Barak Obama in 2009, classified carbon dioxide, methane and four other greenhouse gases as a threat to public health and welfare.
3 February 2026
Get the latest issue of Outlook Business
It supports the Clean Air Act emissions standards and rules for transport, power generation and the oil and gas sector.
“This is about as big as it gets,” CNBC reported President Donald Trump as saying at the White House with EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. “Under the process just completed by the EPA, we are officially terminating the so-called endangerment finding.”
Zeldin said all greenhouse gas emissions norms for light, medium and heavy duty vehicles introduced after the endangerment finding have been scrapped. “No longer will automakers be pressured to shift their fleets towards electric vehicles,” US President Donald Trump was quoted as saying.
What Is the Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding?
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the endangerment finding concluded that six major greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and methane, “endanger public health and welfare” because their emissions contribute to climate change and related harms. This finding gave the EPA the legal authority under the US Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gas emissions – for example from vehicles, power plants and industrial sources – to protect health and the environment. It became the foundation for nearly all US federal climate and emissions rules until its repeal in 2026.
How Does the EPA Regulate Greenhouse Gases?
As stated by the World Resources Institute, the EPA is required to regulate substances that “cause, or contribute to, air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare” under the US Clean Air Act.
Once the EPA made that determination for greenhouse gases, the agency was legally obligated to act.
Why Did Trump Revoke the EPA Endangerment Finding?
Trump announced the repeal alongside White House budget director Russ Vought, who has long pushed to revoke the finding and was a major contributor to the conservative policy blueprint Project 2025 and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin.
As a result of Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and his claims that climate change is a "con job," the US is no longer included in international efforts to combat it. In addition, he signed legislation eliminating tax credits from the Biden administration that were intended to hasten the adoption of renewable energy and electric vehicles.
