Tensions escalate in Washington as Trump’s team prepares to erase a landmark 2009 decision: the Endangerment Finding that deemed CO2 a public health menace. This unleashed EPA’s regulatory power over greenhouse emissions from everyday sources like cars and coal plants.
Officials tout it as monumental relief, potentially unlocking $1.3 trillion and propelling U.S. energy supremacy. ‘History’s greatest deregulation,’ Leavitt proclaimed, eyeing relief for families and firms stifled by Obama rules.
Energy advocates celebrate the prospect of unleashed production, viewing it as essential for competitiveness.
Environmentalists counter with grave warnings. Scrapping this bedrock could cascade into weakened standards across sectors, amplifying vulnerabilities to climate havoc. Groups pledge aggressive litigation to defend the science.
Observers see this as Trump’s clearest break from past climate orthodoxy, steering America toward deregulation. With courts likely next, the battle lines are drawn in a high-stakes clash of economy, environment, and ideology.