Deplorable:
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin has privately urged the White House to strike down a scientific finding underpinning much of the federal government’s push to combat climate change, according to three people briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
Ask your climate questions. With the help of generative Al, we'll try to deliver answers based on our published reporting.
The 2009 “endangerment finding” cleared the way for regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act by concluding that the planet-warming gases pose a threat to public health and welfare. The Obama and Biden administrations used that determination to set strict limits on emissions from cars and power plants.
By repealing the endangerment finding, the Trump administration would be taking one of its most consequential steps yet to derail federal climate efforts. In recent days, the administration has also blocked work that is central to international climate research and barred federal scientists and diplomats from attending a major climate event in China.
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump told reporters during his first meeting with his Cabinet that Zeldin is considering cutting 65 percent of the EPA’s workforce.
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“I spoke with Lee Zeldin, and he thinks he’s going to be cutting 65 or so percent of the people from Environmental,” Trump said, adding that many EPA staffers “weren’t doing their job, they were just obstructionists.”
Asked about Trump’s remark, a White House official said the president was referring to a 65 percent cut in overall spending at the EPA, rather than staffing levels. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
“President Trump, DOGE, and Administrator Zeldin are … committed to eliminating 65% of the EPA’s wasteful spending,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers added in an email.
During Trump’s first term, EPA officials weighed whether to reverse the endangerment finding but opted not to do so.
Conservatives have argued that repealing the finding is critical to unraveling what they see as burdensome limits on emissions from various sectors of the economy. Environmentalists, in contrast, say the finding has justified stronger regulations that have yielded enormous benefits for the planet and public health.
On the first day of his second term, Trump signed an executive order that tasked the EPA with reviewing the “legality and continuing applicability of” the endangerment finding. The order gave Zeldin 30 days to submit recommendations to Russell Vought, the head of the White House budget office.
EPA officials have not shared the recommendations publicly. EPA spokeswoman Molly Vaseliou declined to comment on the matter Tuesday, saying in an email, “EPA is in compliance with this aspect of the President’s Executive Order.”
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin has privately urged the White House to strike down a scientific finding underpinning much of the federal government’s push to combat climate change, according to three people briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
Ask your climate questions. With the help of generative Al, we'll try to deliver answers based on our published reporting.
The 2009 “endangerment finding” cleared the way for regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act by concluding that the planet-warming gases pose a threat to public health and welfare. The Obama and Biden administrations used that determination to set strict limits on emissions from cars and power plants.
By repealing the endangerment finding, the Trump administration would be taking one of its most consequential steps yet to derail federal climate efforts. In recent days, the administration has also blocked work that is central to international climate research and barred federal scientists and diplomats from attending a major climate event in China.
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump told reporters during his first meeting with his Cabinet that Zeldin is considering cutting 65 percent of the EPA’s workforce.
🌱
Follow Climate & environment
“I spoke with Lee Zeldin, and he thinks he’s going to be cutting 65 or so percent of the people from Environmental,” Trump said, adding that many EPA staffers “weren’t doing their job, they were just obstructionists.”
Asked about Trump’s remark, a White House official said the president was referring to a 65 percent cut in overall spending at the EPA, rather than staffing levels. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
“President Trump, DOGE, and Administrator Zeldin are … committed to eliminating 65% of the EPA’s wasteful spending,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers added in an email.
During Trump’s first term, EPA officials weighed whether to reverse the endangerment finding but opted not to do so.
Conservatives have argued that repealing the finding is critical to unraveling what they see as burdensome limits on emissions from various sectors of the economy. Environmentalists, in contrast, say the finding has justified stronger regulations that have yielded enormous benefits for the planet and public health.
On the first day of his second term, Trump signed an executive order that tasked the EPA with reviewing the “legality and continuing applicability of” the endangerment finding. The order gave Zeldin 30 days to submit recommendations to Russell Vought, the head of the White House budget office.
EPA officials have not shared the recommendations publicly. EPA spokeswoman Molly Vaseliou declined to comment on the matter Tuesday, saying in an email, “EPA is in compliance with this aspect of the President’s Executive Order.”
