Former President Barack Obama slammed the Trump administration's repeal of a landmark climate finding from the Democrat's presidency, saying the United States is "less safe" after President Donald Trump eliminated the legal basis for federal regulations targeting greenhouse gases.
In a major blow to federal efforts to combat climate change, the Environmental Protection Agency, at Trump's direction, rescinded the EPA's "endangerment finding" on Feb. 12, which was signed during the Obama administration in 2019.
The finding stated that greenhouse gases in the atmosphere "threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations," providing the legal underpinning for EPA actions during the Obama and Biden administrations to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. But with its elimination, greenhouse gases emitted from tailpipes on vehicles and factories are no longer subject to regulations from the federal government.
"Today, the Trump administration repealed the endangerment finding: the ruling that served as the basis for limits on tailpipe emissions and power plant rules," Obama said in a statement on X. "Without it, we’ll be less safe, less healthy and less able to fight climate change — all so the fossil fuel industry can make even more money."