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Trump administration revokes EPA's ability to regulate climate change

Published  February 12, 2026 1:45pm MST
Environment
FOX Local
Trump speaks during ‘Champion of Coal’ event

Trump speaks during ‘Champion of Coal’ event

We are hearing from President Donald Trump on as he hosts a "Clean Beautiful Coal" event at the White House on Wednesday. President Trump says coal is America’s most reliable and affordable energy source. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum also attended the event inside the White House’s East Room. During the remarks, Trump discussed the cost of gas, saying his policies were responsible for lower prices at the pump. 

The Brief

    • The Trump administration revoked the EPA’s 2009 endangerment finding, which has served as the legal foundation for regulating greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act.
    • Officials called the move a major deregulatory action, while environmental groups and legal experts warned it could dismantle most federal climate rules and spark significant court challenges.
    • The repeal targets emissions limits on vehicles, power plants, and other sources, despite past Supreme Court rulings upholding the government’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases.

WASHINGTON - The Trump administration revoked a scientific finding that has been used to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change by the United States.

On Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency rescinded a 2009 government declaration known as the endangerment finding that determined that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare.

What they're saying:

President Donald Trump called the move "the single largest deregulatory action in American history," while EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin called the endangerment finding "the Holy Grail of federal regulatory overreach."

FILE - US President Donald Trump speaks during an announcement in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (Will Oliver/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Legal hurdles ahead

Dig deeper:

Legal challenges are certain for an action that repeals all greenhouse gas emissions standards for cars and trucks, and could unleash a broader undoing of climate regulations on stationary sources such as power plants and oil and gas facilities, experts say. 

Environmental groups described the move as the single biggest attack in U.S. history against federal authority to address climate change.

The EPA also said it will propose a two-year delay to a Biden-era rule restricting greenhouse gas emissions by cars and light trucks.

Massachusetts v. EPA

The backstory:

The Supreme Court ruled in a 2007 case that planet-warming greenhouse gases, caused by burning of oil and other fossil fuels, are air pollutants under the Clean Air Act.

Since the high court’s decision, in a case known as Massachusetts v. EPA, courts have uniformly rejected legal challenges to the endangerment finding, including a 2023 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The endangerment finding is widely considered the legal foundation that underpins a series of regulations intended to protect against threats made increasingly severe by climate change. That includes deadly floods, extreme heat waves, catastrophic wildfires and other natural disasters in the U.S. and around the world.

The Source: Information for this article was taken from The Associated Press. 

EnvironmentPoliticsU.S.Donald J. TrumpNews