UN 
(SDGTALKING) – By Dilek Kaya – The Environmental Protection Agency wants to revoke a 2009 scientific report stating that greenhouse gas emissions pose a threat to public health.
Under President Donald Trump’s administration, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed a new rule to remove the “hazard finding” that forms the legal basis for the country’s fight against climate change.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, appointed by Trump, announced on Tuesday that the agency had officially initiated the process to revoke the 2009 “hazard finding,” which forms the basis for the U.S.’s efforts to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. This finding determined that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases pose a threat to public health and welfare, providing the legal basis for numerous climate regulations under the Clean Air Act.
In his statement on the new EPA rule, Zeldin said, “The EPA is doing its part to usher in a Golden Age of American success. I am excited to put an end to the Holy Grail of climate change religion.”
Climate policies are being shaken to their core
The scientific finding, adopted in 2009 during the Barack Obama administration, has been at the center of climate policy in the US. Thanks to this finding, regulations on greenhouse gas emissions across a wide range of sectors, from motor vehicles to power plants, were able to come into effect. The EPA’s new proposal, along with the invalidation of this finding, could render federal emissions regulations largely invalid and weaken the US’s climate commitments.
Reaction expected from the scientific community and environmentalists
The Trump administration’s move is expected to draw serious criticism from environmental organizations, scientists, and climate change activists. The scientific community believes that decades of data-driven research on the effects of greenhouse gases on the climate have been ignored.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration continues to systematically roll back environmental regulations, citing economic growth and the liberalization of the energy sector as justifications. The EPA’s proposed new measure is being interpreted as a sign of a fundamental shift in U.S. climate policy.
