After months of behind-the-scenes reporting and speculation, the Environmental Protection Agency has made official its plan to revoke a key scientific finding that underpins the agency's entire framework for regulating planet-heating pollution.

"It is callous, dangerous and a breach of our government's responsibility to protect the American people from this devastating pollution," the Environmental Defense Fund said of the move, per Axios.

What's happening?

Lee Zeldin, the EPA administrator, announced at an auto dealership in Indianapolis that the agency would seek to revoke the so-called "endangerment finding." This phrase has become shorthand for a specific 2009 finding signed by then-administrator Lisa Jackson.

The December 7, 2009, finding declared "that the current and projected concentrations" of six planet-heating gases, including carbon dioxide and methane, "threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations."

Under the federal Clean Air Act, this finding for the first time gave the EPA the authority to regulate these gases.

Revoking the endangerment finding essentially would transform the EPA's entire framework for regulating planet-heating pollution into a house of cards, with a foundational piece being pulled out.

"Rescinding the endangerment finding will make it harder for federal agencies to take steps that cut heat-trapping greenhouse gas pollution from cars, trucks, power plants, factories and agriculture," the Center for Biological Diversity said in a statement. 

Zeldin, the current EPA administrator, attempted to frame the issue as an economic rather than an environmental one, accusing some environmental advocates of wanting to "bankrupt the country," according to Axios.  

"If finalized, the proposal would repeal all resulting greenhouse gas emissions regulations for motor vehicles and engines, thereby reinstating consumer choice," said the EPA in its statement announcing the move.

Environmental advocates pushed back on the supposed economic benefits of repealing the endangerment finding. 

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"If there are no enforced limits on pollution, you get more of it, making life more expensive and even more dangerous," said Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund, in a statement. "The stakes could not be higher for Americans."

Why is the endangerment finding important?

Scientists for decades have projected that, as the burning of fossil fuels releases more and more heat-trapping pollution into the atmosphere, global temperatures will continue to rise, making extreme weather events more severe.

These impacts are already being felt around the world in the form of unprecedented floods, record-shattering heat waves, and raging wildfires.   

Revoking the endangerment finding takes away the federal government's biggest and most important tool for reigning in this kind of pollution and thereby avoiding the worst impacts of rising temperatures.

With so-called "tailpipe rules" gone, automakers would be free to mass produce vehicles without regard for the amount of planet-heating pollution they generate. The same lack of rules would extend to large-scale polluters like factories and power plants.  

What's being done about the EPA revoking the endangerment finding?

Under administrative law rules, the EPA's proposal to revoke the endangerment finding must pass through a period of public comment, during which anyone can weigh in on the move. 

That means there still is time to use your voice and contact your elected representatives in Washington to let them know where you stand on the federal government's ability to rein in planet-heating pollution.

The TCD Guide also recommends connecting with a nonprofit such as the Environmental Defense Fund, which is running campaigns to push back against efforts to weaken environmental protections such as this, regardless of any other policies you may support outside of environmental considerations. 

Meanwhile, California has used its economic clout as the nation's most populous state to impose its own clean air rules for automobiles. The current administration has challenged these rules, and the issue is making its way through the courts, according to CalMatters.   

Regardless of the policies coming out of Washington, there are still plenty of actions that anyone can take every day to reduce heat-trapping pollution.

Cleaner forms of transportation like walking, biking, taking public transit, or driving an EV improve local air quality and combat rising temperatures no matter what federal rules happen to be in place.

Further, you can take Lee Zeldin, the EPA administrator, at his word on choice and use your power as a consumer to make environmentally conscious purchasing decisions. 

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