Climate, Health, Environment Advocates Rip Trump Repeal of Endangerment Finding
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 11, 2026
CONTACT: Gabrielle Levy, Glevy@cacampaign.org, 562-673-6974
Climate, Health, Environment Advocates Rip Trump Repeal of Endangerment Finding
”We are not expendable.”
WASHINGTON– “Our lives are not expendable” was the rallying cry at a press event outside the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency headquarters today, after the White House announced it would repeal the science-based and legally affirmed Endangerment Finding.
In repealing the Endangerment Finding, the Trump administration is turning the government against its own people. The Endangerment Finding is a 2009 determination that states carbon dioxide, methane, and four other climate pollutants do endanger public health. The EPA is obligated under the Clean Air Act and repeated affirmations in court to protect the American people from the dangers of climate pollution.
“The repeal of EPA’s endangerment finding is a giant step backward in our fight to secure a livable planet for future generations," said Rep. Paul Tonko, NY-20. "With this action, Donald Trump and his administration have made climate denial the official policy of the United States by once again placing polluter profits ahead of the well-being of American families. While countless Americans suffer from the negative health effects of unchecked corporate pollution and millions more face the extreme weather, wildfires, and droughts they cause, Trump and Lee Zeldin are showing nothing but contempt for their struggles. This policy will only make big polluters richer — and American families will pay the price.”
“By repealing the endangerment finding, the Trump administration is creating a clear and present danger to the American public—because climate denial costs lives. But even if Trump and Zeldin try to put EPA’s science in shackles, the law is clear,” said Sen. Ed Markey (Mass.). “The EPA is still beholden to its mission to protect human health and the environment. Trump’s EPA might try to break the law, but they can’t rewrite it. American families deserve a government that puts their well-being over polluter paychecks. Climate change is real, and denying the danger means we will keep living through it—and dying because of it.”
The dangers of climate change-causing pollutants are firmly established in science. With this decision to rescind the Endangerment Finding, the Trump administration has formally embraced climate denial as official U.S. policy, ignoring the life-threatening impacts of climate change millions of Americans are facing every day.
“This is corruption, plain and simple. Old fashioned, dirty political corruption," said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I). "The EPA has been so infiltrated by the corrupt fossil fuel industry that it has turned an agency of government into the weapon of the fossil fuel polluters against their clean energy competition, which is not just cleaner, but safer and less expensive than fossil fuel. The Trump administration is out to block and delay clean energy getting onto the grid. And by doing so, they are raising electricity costs for Americans because that clean energy is cheaper than the fossil fuel plants. It is a massive transfer of wealth from electric utility ratepayers to Trump’s big fossil fuel donors.”
“Revoking the EPA’s endangerment finding is a reckless attack on science, public health, and settled law. In California, families are already living with the consequences of climate change – record drought, catastrophic wildfires, dangerous air quality, and rising costs," said Rep. Nanette Barragán, Calif.-44. "This decision puts polluters ahead of our health and safety and forces EPA to ignore the real and growing harms climate change is inflicting on our communities. Congress must act to protect public health and our climate future.”
"With its action today the Trump administration makes climate denial the official policy of the U.S.," said Margie Alt, director of the Climate Action Campaign. "But denying the basic facts won’t make them any less true: The Endangerment Finding is a statement of fact based on a mountain of evidence. Fossil fuels are a significant contributor to the climate crisis. The law requiring the EPA to act to protect the American people from climate-harming pollutants – affirmed several times by the courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court – is unequivocal."
“This move is a fundamental betrayal of EPA’s responsibility to protect human health. It is legally indefensible, morally bankrupt, and completely untethered from the scientific record,” said Joseph Goffman, former Assistant Administrator of EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. “The Endangerment Finding was built on decades of peer-reviewed science and a clear legal mandate under the Clean Air Act, and that foundation has only grown stronger. Abandoning it —along with clean car standards that reduce harmful pollution and save families money—doesn’t change the facts. It is abhorrent that the Trump EPA has decided to shift the real and growing costs of climate pollution back onto the public.”
The Trump administration’s policies are literally killing people: letting polluters poison the air and water, putting the power of the federal government behind boosting corporate profits while putting zero value on human lives. According to one estimate, the EPA’s public health and environmental rollbacks will lead to nearly 200,000 preventable premature deaths through 2050, with those who are already the most vulnerable paying the highest price.
“Rescinding the Endangerment Finding does nothing to change the reality that hundreds of millions people across the country are harmed by the consequences of carbon emissions," said Manuel Salgado, Federal Research Manager, We Act for Environmental Justice. "The Environmental Protection Agency has a legally mandated obligation to PROTECT our health and environment fairly from these harms. For this administration however, their beneficiaries are clearly not you, the people of this country, but rather the billionaire class. Your health, your home, you or your child’s life, are all sacrifices they are willing to make. WE ACT for Environmental Justice and our environmental justice partners remain committed to the fight to ensure that this administration does NOT sell out our health and lives for the gain of billionaire bank accounts, and to make sure those who have been forced to bear the heaviest environmental burdens receive the justice and opportunity to live in health and safety we ALL deserve.”
“The Trump administration is sacrificing our health, our safety, our economy, and our future by abandoning its core responsibility to keep us safe from extreme weather and accelerating climate change,” said Abigail Dillen, president of Earthjustice. “The courts have repeatedly affirmed EPA’s obligation to clean up climate pollution. There is no way to reconcile EPA’s decision with the law, the science, and the reality of disasters that are hitting us harder every year. 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. Earthjustice and our partners will see the Trump administration in court.”
"Despite overwhelming public opposition, the Trump administration is bulldozing forward with their unpopular proposal to rescind the endangerment finding and allow cars and trucks to spew destructive pollution for decades to come," said Katherine García, director of the Sierra Club’s Clean Transportation for All. "This attack goes against the EPA’s foundational mission to protect our environment and the health of all Americans. Eviscerating these standards will contribute to more extreme weather disasters caused by the climate crisis and to worsened air quality. The Sierra Club fought to enact these protections and we’ll do everything we can to fight this reckless attempt to unravel them."
Nor will repealing the Endangerment Finding do anything to bring down costs or improve health for American families. In fact, people will die as a result of this reckless action. In addition to evading its legal obligations to protect people from climate pollutants, the Trump administration’s rollbacks targeting specific climate and air pollution sources are projected to result in $254 billion in lost benefits for public health and the economy every year.
"Pretending that climate pollution doesn’t threaten our health and safety is one more way the Trump administration is putting American families last," said Amanda Leland, executive director of the Environmental Defense Fund. "We’re paying the increasingly steep price of extreme weather, spending more and more on electricity amid brutal heat waves and cold snaps, and watching insurance premiums spike. We need our leaders to tell us the truth about the risks in front of us, so we can work together to deliver cleaner air, better health, stronger communities, and lower energy bills. Instead, the Trump administration worked in secret to justify the false claim that this pollution doesn’t hurt us.”
“It is impossible to imagine a morally defensible reason for Administrator Zeldin’s decision to end EPA’s responsibility for cutting the climate pollution that is endangering peoples’ health, harming children, and destabilizing our country," said Dominique Browning, director and co-founder of Moms Clean Air Force. "But rolling back the Endangerment Finding is just the latest example of the way Zeldin has corrupted the very mission of the EPA: To protect human health and the environment. Zeldin’s legacy will be the suffering of our children and grandchildren. His radical agenda to let polluters off the hook – and to ignore the peoples’ health – must be stopped. Congress must hold Zeldin accountable with oversight hearings. Millions of Moms agree: Zeldin must go.”
Ignoring the EPA’s mission to protect American lives and health, denying established climate science, and blackmailing disaster-stricken communities for political gain is immoral and un-American.
"With millions of Americans facing stronger storms, hotter heat waves and more dangerous wildfires, the Trump administration is trying to pretend it’s all a hoax, and there’s nothing to be done about it," said Manish Bapna, president and CEO of NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). "This cynical and devastating action by the Trump EPA will not go forward without a fight. We will see them in court – and we will win."
A roundup of more than 100 additional statements from climate, public health, and environmental justice organizations can be found here. A recording of today’s event is available here.
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About the Climate Action Campaign
Climate Action Campaign (CAC) is a vibrant coalition driving ambitious, durable, equitable federal action to tackle the climate crisis. By cutting carbon pollution and accelerating the transition to clean energy, we will improve public health and create a more resilient economy and a more sustainable future for all.
