Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin announced Wednesday that the EPA is seeking to overhaul 31 rules, including those that regulate greenhouse gases in power plant and vehicle emissions.
An Obama administration 2009 Endangerment Finding said emissions from vehicles and other sources endanger public health, giving the EPA the power to regulate gases that included carbon dioxide and methane.
Zeldin called the finding “the holy grail of climate change religion,” according to The Washington Times.
The rule was the underpinning of a 2024 Biden administration power plant rule requiring that by 2032, new natural gas power plants and existing coal-fired plants have virtually no emissions or face being shut down.
“We are driving a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion to drive down cost of living for American families, unleash American energy, bring auto jobs back to the U.S. and more,” Zeldin said in a news release on the EPA’s website.
“Alongside President Trump, we are living up to our promises to unleash American energy, lower costs for Americans, revitalize the American auto industry, and work hand-in-hand with our state partners to advance our shared mission,” he said.
“Combined, these announcements represent the most momentous day in the history of the EPA,” the release said.
“While accomplishing EPA’s core mission of protecting the environment, the agency is committed to fulfilling President Trump’s promise to unleash American energy, lower cost of living for Americans, revitalize the American auto industry, restore the rule of law, and give power back to states to make their own decisions,” the release said, listing the rules it seeks to change.
The release said the rule changes “will roll back trillions in regulatory costs and hidden ‘taxes’ on U.S. families. As a result of these announcements, the cost of living for American families will decrease. It will be more affordable to purchase a car, heat homes, and operate a business.”
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“Today is the most consequential day of deregulation in American history,” Zeldin wrote in an Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal.
“By overhauling massive rules on the endangerment finding, the social cost of carbon and similar issues, we are driving a dagger through the heart of climate-change religion and ushering in America’s Golden Age.”
“The EPA will continue to protect human health and the environment while unleashing America’s full potential. That means reconsidering the regulations that have restricted every sector of the economy, such as the illegal Clean Power Plan 2.0, Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, and Particulate Matter 2.5 levels,” he continued.
Zeldin said the rule changes allow America to tap the power it needs.
“Energy dominance stands at the center of America’s resurgence. By reconsidering rules that throttled oil and gas production and unfairly targeted coal-fired power plants, we are ensuring that American energy remains clean, affordable, and reliable,” he wrote.
“This isn’t about abandoning environmental protection — it’s about achieving it through innovation and not strangulation.”
Zeldin said the EPA permit process will no longer be a nightmare.
“Today marks the death of the Green New Scam. The EPA recognizes that environmental protection and economic prosperity aren’t mutually exclusive goals,” he proclaimed.
“Critics may claim that these changes signal a retreat from environmental protection. Nothing could be further from the truth. Under the Trump administration, the EPA’s core mission remains safeguarding human health and the environment. The difference lies in how we achieve these goals — through partnership rather than prescriptive bureaucracy, through collaboration rather than regulation.”
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