The Trump administration is preparing to repeal the Obama-era scientific determination that serves as the legal foundation for federal greenhouse-gas regulation, according to U.S. officials, marking what could become the most far-reaching rollback of U.S. climate policy to date.
The target is the EPA’s 2009 “endangerment finding,” which concluded that six greenhouse gases pose a threat to public health and welfare — a prerequisite that enabled the agency to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions from new motor vehicles under the Clean Air Act.
“This amounts to the largest act of deregulation in the history of the United States,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in an interview.
Administration officials said the final rule, expected to be made public later this week, would remove federal requirements tied to greenhouse-gas standards for motor vehicles — including obligations to measure, report, certify, and comply — along with associated compliance programs, credit provisions, and reporting rules.
Officials said the change would not apply to rules governing emissions from power plants and other stationary sources such as oil-and-gas facilities, though rescinding the endangerment finding could create an opening for future efforts affecting those sectors.
The move is expected to be welcomed by the fossil-fuel industry and other critics of federal climate mandates, after years of pushback against what they argue are costly, burdensome regulations. Trump has framed expanded reliance on domestic fossil fuels as central to economic and national security — and as a lever to lower energy prices.
Environmental groups have said they would challenge any rollback in court, and litigation could take years. The EPA’s earlier proposal to rescind the finding drew heavy public engagement — including hundreds of thousands of comments, according to reporting and federal docket materials.
The Environmental Defense Fund has warned that rolling back the endangerment finding would “eliminate some of our most vital tools to protect people from the pollution that causes climate change,” arguing it would steer the country toward dirtier air.
On Inauguration Day last year, Trump signed an executive order directing the EPA to assess whether the endangerment finding should remain in place, and the agency formally moved in 2025 with a rescission proposal and related vehicle-rule reversals now heading toward a final decision.
“More energy drives human flourishing,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in an interview. “Energy abundance is the thing that we have to focus on, not regulating certain forms of energy out.”
Full report over at The Wall Street Journal:
“This amounts to the largest act of deregulation in the history of the United States.” – @epaleezeldin https://t.co/A2a6ca6QEy
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) February 10, 2026
Thank you for visiting