The Trump administration plans to eliminate a key climate change regulation on Thursday (February 13) in what White House officials are calling "the largest deregulatory action in American history."

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, alongside President Donald Trump, will formally rescind the agency's 2009 "endangerment finding" that declared greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane threaten public health and welfare, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

The endangerment finding has served as the legal foundation for federal climate regulations for over a decade, enabling the EPA to set emissions standards for vehicles and require fossil fuel companies to report their emissions under the Clean Air Act.

"This will save the American people $1.3 trillion in crushing regulations," Leavitt said during a Tuesday briefing. The administration claims the action will reduce costs for cars, SUVs, and trucks by more than $2,400 per vehicle.

The EPA released a draft version of the rule in August 2025, which also proposed removing all greenhouse gas emissions standards for motor vehicles. The final text has not yet been released, so many details remain unknown.

The repeal is expected to trigger the collapse of most U.S. climate policies if it survives anticipated legal challenges from environmental groups, which have already prepared to sue the administration.

In its preliminary draft, the EPA argued that the 2009 finding "unreasonably analyzed the scientific record" with overly pessimistic projections that haven't materialized. The agency also claimed the finding overstated heat wave risks and discounted benefits of carbon dioxide increases, such as enhanced plant growth.

Leading scientific organizations have strongly disputed these claims. The American Geophysical Union stated the EPA's justification presented "inaccurate and cherry-picked" information. A group of 85 climate scientists submitted a detailed rebuttal, writing that the supporting Department of Energy report "exhibits pervasive problems with misrepresentation."

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine concluded that the original endangerment finding was accurate and has stood the test of time.

Environmental groups have vowed to fight the repeal in court. "This is a slap in the face for all of the millions of Americans who are experiencing the devastating costs of extreme heat, wildfires, flooding, and storms," said Abbie Dillen, president of Earthjustice, an environmental law organization.

The Natural Resources Defense Council has promised to fight the EPA "every step of the way," with one of its lawyers, David Doniger, saying it will be "impossible" for the agency to defend its rule change in court due to overwhelming evidence linking greenhouse gas pollution to climate change and intensifying extreme weather events.

Last year was the third-warmest in modern history, according to European climate monitoring services, with the past 11 years being the warmest on record.

Scott Sloan