More than 300,000 comments were filed in response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to rescind the controversial 2009 Endangerment Finding (EF) and its subsequent greenhouse gas vehicle standard. A statute which has become the cornerstone of expansive climate regulation in the U.S, this one directive underpins costly fuel economy standards, justifies a de facto electric vehicle (EV) mandate, and empowers agencies to impose sweeping rules with minimal legislative oversight. Its scientific foundation is dubious, its legal authority problematic, and its economic consequences severe. It is time to repeal it.
The EF originated from the Supreme Court’s narrow 5–4 decision in Massachusetts v. EPA (2007), which interpreted the Clean Air Act (CAA) to include greenhouse gases as “air pollutants.” But dissenting justices rightly argued that the CAA was designed to address local, toxic pollutants—not global climate dynamics. Subsequent rulings have reinforced the dissenters’ view.
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Kristen Walker is a policy analyst for the American Consumer Institute, a nonprofit education and research organization. For more information about the Institute, visit www.theamericanconsumer.org or follow on X @ConsumerPal.