A Legal Analysis of the Trump EPA’s Plan to Revoke the Endangerment Finding

Earthjustice provides a legal analysis of a proposal by the Trump-era Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to revoke the 2009 endangerment finding, which established that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions require regulation under the Clean Air Act to protect public health and welfare.

• The EPA's proposal to revoke the endangerment finding relies on several legal arguments, including a narrow interpretation of "air pollution" to exclude pollutants causing global harm, the claim that the "major question" bar from West Virginia v. EPA limits GHG regulation authority, and the assertion that the EPA cannot issue a standalone endangerment finding separate from specific emissions standards.
• The EPA justifies the revocation by challenging the scientific record, claiming that reports from the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are "unduly pessimistic" and do not meet the standards of the "Restoring Gold Science" Executive Order.
• The proposal's scientific basis relies on a Department of Energy (DOE) report authored by five contrarian scientists, including Steven Koonin, Judith Curry, and John Christy, which argues that CO2 emissions lead to "global greening" through increased plant growth.
• Beyond the endangerment finding, the EPA seeks to rescind all GHG emission standards for light-duty, medium-duty, and heavy-duty vehicles and engines for model years 2012 to 2027 and beyond, arguing that such reductions would be "futile" and would not measurably impact global climate change.
• While the proposal does not directly repeal GHG regulations for oil and gas facilities or power plants, it eliminates the legal basis for them, as those regulations referred back to the 2009 endangerment finding.

APA

Earthjustice (2025). A Legal Analysis of the Trump EPA’s Plan to Revoke the Endangerment Finding. https://earthjustice.org/experts/hana-vizcarra/a-legal-analysis-of-the-trump-epas-plan-to-revoke-the-endangerment-finding

Chicago

Earthjustice. A Legal Analysis of the Trump EPA’s Plan to Revoke the Endangerment Finding. 2025. https://earthjustice.org/experts/hana-vizcarra/a-legal-analysis-of-the-trump-epas-plan-to-revoke-the-endangerment-finding.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Earthjustice |title=A Legal Analysis of the Trump EPA’s Plan to Revoke the Endangerment Finding |date=1 August 2025 |url=https://earthjustice.org/experts/hana-vizcarra/a-legal-analysis-of-the-trump-epas-plan-to-revoke-the-endangerment-finding |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{earthjustice2025legal, author = {{Earthjustice}}, title = {{A Legal Analysis of the Trump EPA’s Plan to Revoke the Endangerment Finding}}, institution = {Earthjustice}, year = {2025}, month = aug, url = {https://earthjustice.org/experts/hana-vizcarra/a-legal-analysis-of-the-trump-epas-plan-to-revoke-the-endangerment-finding}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }