MONUMENTAL: Trump Admin Unleashes American Energy With Key Regulatory Move
Tyler O'Neil /
It’s hard to wrap your head around the massive news President Donald Trump and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin announced Thursday.
Trump and Zeldin estimated that the EPA will save taxpayers over $1.3 trillion by eliminating the 2009 Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding, which served as the bedrock for a host of greenhouse gas emissions standards for vehicles in model years 2012 to 2027.
The Clean Air Act of 1970 directed the EPA to regulate “any air pollutant” that could “endanger public health or welfare.”
In 2006, Massachusetts and 11 other states sued the agency, demanding that it regulate greenhouse gas emissions on the theory that the emissions contribute to climate change and therefore endanger public health. The Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that the EPA must consider “whether greenhouse gas emissions contribute to climate change,” and the Obama administration issued the Endangerment Finding in 2009.
Trump and Zeldin gave two strong reasons for reversing course on the finding.
The Climate Data
They noted that the climate alarmist predictions of harm from the burning of fossil fuels “did not materialize.”
“Using the same types of models utilized by the previous administrations and climate change zealots, EPA now finds that even if the U.S. were to eliminate all GHG emissions from all vehicles, there would be no material impact on global climate indicators through 2100,” the agency’s press release notes.
Indeed, various studies have shown that the burning of fossil fuels does not pose the existential threat that alarmists have repeatedly claimed. Climate models from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change significantly overestimated warming trends, in part because they neglect to consider natural factors that play substantial roles in climate variability.
Contrary to alarmist claims, climate change is not making hurricanes worse. Historical records of major river systems reveal patterns of variability, rather than consistent trends linked to human emissions. Furthermore, moderate warming and elevated carbon emissions can yield net benefits, such as reducing cold-related mortality and extending growing seasons.
The Endangerment Finding Was Illegal
Trump and Zeldin also weighed the legal foundation of the Endangerment Finding and found it wanting.
Section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act “does not provide statutory authority for EPA to prescribe motor vehicle and engine emission standards in the manner previously utilized, including for the purpose of addressing global climate change,” the press release argues.
“A policy decision of this magnitude, which carries sweeping economic and policy consequences, lies solely with Congress.”
A Huge Blow to the Climate Industrial Complex
Climate activists have long used the federal bureaucracy to push their agenda, often circumventing Congress.
As I describe in “The Woketopus: The Dark Money Cabal Manipulating the Federal Government,” climate alarmist groups fed staff and ideas into the Biden administration, pulling the levers of power while the president was asleep at the wheel.
The EPA is often ground zero for this grift. Climate groups would sue the EPA, claiming that it did not regulate enough of the economy. EPA staff, who largely supported the regulation, would settle the lawsuits, agreeing to implement the alarmist policy and pay the activist group in a settlement.
Under Biden, the EPA managed the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, a $27 billion fund administered through CitiBank as part of the so-called Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. The EPA rushed $20 billion to eight nonprofit groups after Trump won the 2024 presidential election. Zeldin has fought to claw back some of this money, and he confronted left-leaning journalists for repeatedly claiming that he had no evidence of waste, fraud, or abuse.
A Win for Affordability
Democrats talk a great deal about “affordability,” but they seem not to be concerned about how regulating oil and gas makes travel, electricity, and goods and services more expensive.
According to the Energy Information Administration, 60% of American energy comes from fossil fuels, with 18.6% coming from nuclear energy and another 21.4% from wind, hydropower, and solar.
As the federal government drops restrictions on the largest sources of energy in the country, that won’t just make it cheaper for you to fill up your gas tank—it will also decrease the cost of transporting goods and services, and it will decrease the cost of energy production, in general.
Meanwhile, fewer government handouts for “clean energy” companies also means one less driver of inflation.
The market will adjust for more companies to meet consumer demand, and if solar and wind truly are the way of the future, they should be able to compete on a level playing field.
Trump’s all-of-the-above energy strategy will likely make Americans wealthier and give us more options for how to spend our money. Repealing the Endangerment Finding will spread positive ripple effects throughout the economy, and I, for one, am excited about what the future holds.