Position on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Proposal to Revoke the Endangerment Finding
Yesterday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed revoking its 2009 “endangerment finding” that greenhouse gases pose a substantial threat to the public. The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) stands in strong opposition.
The science couldn’t be clearer: unchecked emissions of greenhouse gases are increasing the frequency and toll of disasters like flash flooding in Texas, catastrophic wildfires in Los Angeles, and stifling heat domes that repeatedly blanket huge swathes of the country. Revoking the endangerment finding would shove science aside in favor of special interests – and at the expense of American health and wellbeing.
“The Environmental Protection Agency claims that the endangerment finding led to ‘costly burdens’ on American families and businesses, when in reality it is the cost of failing to regulate climate pollution that will hit Americans the hardest,” said Dr. Hannah Safford, Associate Director of Climate and Environment at the Federation of American Scientists. “Climate change is expected to cost each American child born today half a million dollars over their lifetimes. Is that the legacy we want to leave our kids?”
The EPA’s proposal is the latest move by the Trump Administration to gut federal climate policy. This campaign runs counter to public opinion: 4 in 5 of all Americans, across party lines, want to see the government take stronger climate action. At the same time, potential revocation of the endangerment finding underscores the need for a durable new approach to climate policy that integrates innovative regulatory design, complementary policy packages, and attention to real-world implementation capacity. FAS and its partners are leading on this priority alongside state and local leaders.
“Despite the Trump Administration’s short-sighted and ideologically motivated actions, the clean energy transition has unstoppable momentum, and there is tremendous opportunity for innovation on how we design and deliver climate policies that are equitable, efficient, and effective,” added Dr. Safford. “The Trump Administration may be stepping back, but many others are stepping forward to create a world free from climate danger.”
Just as sports fanatics had plenty to celebrate this year, so does the heat policy team at FAS. In response to recent heat events, leaders across the country have taken steps to build heat resilience.
Western states functionally manage trillions in global climate risk (permafrost, forest carbon, etc.) and can do so in ways that drive state economic development.
Implementation will not be easy. Several of the plan’s critical strategies challenge established utility business models.
We won’t solve the cost-of-living crisis without improving the capacity of state public utility commissions to protect customers, find and implement new solutions to meet rising demand, and realign broken utility incentives.