EPA last Wednesday announced 31 moves to repeal environmental protections, shifting focus to economic growth. The Trump administration, led by EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, on March 12 announced plans to roll back dozens of key environmental regulations, including limits on air and water pollution, protections for wetlands (WOTUS), and the agency’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases. In a video statement, Zeldin reframed the EPA’s mission as reducing costs for businesses and consumers, omitting references to environmental or public health protections.
The proposed deregulations, which will undergo a formal review process, have drawn sharp criticism from environmental advocates and Democrats, who argue they undermine efforts to combat climate change and protect public health.
Among the most significant changes, the EPA plans to challenge the legal basis for regulating carbon emissions, a move some experts say is unlikely to succeed but signals a dramatic shift in environmental policy.
Of note: The effort to revise EPA’s 2009 “endangerment finding” is a significant move because that legal opinion determines that greenhouse gas emissions endanger public health. This finding grants the agency the authority to regulate emissions from key sources like automobiles, factories, power plants, and oil and gas wells. If it were eliminated, EPA would lose its legal basis to enforce climate pollution regulations, making it much harder to address greenhouse gas emissions. Sign up for more news and market analysis from Pro Farmer.
