Trump Administration Guts Clean Vehicle Standards and Wipes Out Longstanding Climate Finding - CleanTechnica

The Trump administration, through Lee Zeldin, finalized a federal regulation that dismantles the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) greenhouse gas emission standards for light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles. This rollback also eliminates the EPA’s 2009 “endangerment finding” (EF), a critical scientific determination that greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane pose a threat to public health and welfare. Despite overwhelming public opposition—over 97% of testifiers at a recent hearing opposed the proposal—the administration proceeded, prioritizing fossil fuel and certain auto industry interests over environmental and public health protections. The endangerment finding had provided the EPA with the legal authority to regulate vehicle emissions, which are the largest source of U.S. climate pollution. The Sierra Club, a leading environmental organization, condemned the rollback as a dangerous step that undermines decades of progress in reducing vehicle pollution and combating climate change. They emphasized that the transportation sector accounts for the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.,