The Trump administration on Thursday rescinded a landmark scientific finding that was the legal basis for federal regulations limiting greenhouse gas emissions, dealing a devastating blow to efforts to combat climate change. climate change.

Environmental Protection Agency Hazard discoveryestablished under the leadership of President barack obama In 2009, carbon dioxide, methane and four other greenhouse gases were classified as threats to public health and welfare.

It is the basis of the Clean Air Act Emission standards Rules for automobiles and light trucks, power plants, and oil and gas industry facilities.

“This is as big as it gets,” the president said. Donald Trump Speaking with EPA Administrator at the White House Lizeldin. “Based on the process just completed by the EPA, we are officially terminating the so-called hazard finding.”

Zeldin said greenhouse gas emissions standards for all light, medium and heavy-duty vehicles have been eliminated based on the hazard findings. “Automakers will no longer be forced to convert their fleets to electric vehicles,” he said.

Dangerous findings come from Supreme Court In 2007, the EPA decided to treat greenhouse gases as air pollutants under the Clean Air Act, and the EPA must determine whether they pose a threat to public health.

Zeldin’s decision to rescind the finding is the most significant action yet in the Trump administration’s campaign to repeal U.S. regulations that combat climate change. He called the repeal the largest deregulation effort in U.S. history.

Obama said in a statement social media posts The Trump administration’s actions have made the United States “less safe, less healthy, and less able to combat climate change — all in an effort to make more money for the fossil fuel industry.”

this sierra clubThe largest U.S. environmental group said Trump had “formalized climate denialism as official government policy.”

It warned that rolling back greenhouse gas standards would not only endanger the public but also expose industries to a flood of lawsuits. Supreme Court rules unanimous decision In 2011, under federal common law, companies could not be sued for greenhouse gas emissions because regulation of those emissions had been delegated to the EPA.

Trump seeks to unleash U.S. fossil fuel production and stifle the Biden administration’s efforts to transition to renewable energy and electric vehicles. He pulled the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord and eliminated key tax subsidies for solar, wind and electric vehicles.