Industry pollution set to rise without the Endangerment Finding foundation for tackling climate pollution
By Ramona du Houx
March 10, 2026
WASHINGTON, DC—The Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently repealed the Endangerment Finding, a core scientific and legal foundation for tackling climate pollution. The EPA ruling not only gutted limits on greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from new cars and trucks—it deliberately took away the legal foundation for EPA to regulate GHGs across the board.
“The Endangerment Finding recognized that greenhouse gases—released when we burn fossil fuels—threaten our health, our communities and our future. Grounded in overwhelming scientific evidence, the Endangerment Finding has been responsible for cutting pollution from power plants, cars and trucks, oil and gas and other polluting operations through the EPA,” said Ramona Cornell du Houx, Elected Officials to Protect America Communications Director, Solon Center for Research and Publishing President. “Imagine an America with smog hovering over cities, or with communities that live near oil and gas operations seeing more of their children suffering from respiratory illnesses, some leading to cancers and premature deaths. That was America before we saw these threats as dangers to public health and our environment. The Endangerment Finding made polluters adhere to regulations set by the EPA or have to face legal consequences. With the Endangerment Finding stripped away we, the people, have been left without power to limit emission through regulatory action. Our Elected Officials to Protect America network of thousands of elected officials from across the country vows to continue to fight to protect all Americans from these attacks on climate crisis prevention, public health, and energy security.”
The Endangerment Finding was based on the undeniable scientific evidence that GHGs like carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane are contributing directly to the climate crisis, and that this climate pollution endangers public health and warms the planet creating extreme weather.
“The repeal of the Endangerment Finding is not merely an environmental setback, it is a national security failure. As a former military officer who witnessed firsthand how dependence on fossil fuels fuels corruption, instability, and conflict in vulnerable nations, I know that true security is never found at the end of an oil pipeline,” said Naweed Kawusi, Elected Officials to Protect America (EOPA) Chief Operating Officer, former Afghanistan National Army Colonel, former Director General of Police Support for Afghanistan Ministry of Interior Affairs, former USAID Senior Advisor, and former UNICEF Senior C4D Officer. “America has the technology, the talent, and the resolve to lead the world into a clean energy future. To abandon that path now, at the behest of petrostate interests and polluting industries, is to choose dependency over strength, and profit over the protection of the American people. We must reclaim our energy independence through clean energy. That is not just sound environmental policy, it is sound national security strategy.”
Over the past few years, extreme weather events have hit communities across our country with fierce unforgiving forces. Wildfires, torrential rains, hurricanes, heat waves and droughts are getting worse.
“Last April, I saw firsthand how the severe storms impacted neighborhoods across Allegheny County. It was heartbreaking hearing stories about families losing everything they had worked for their entire lives. What made the disaster worse was knowing that federal climate protection programs and investments have been rolled back because of the Trump administration. It doesn’t need to be this way. That’s why I strongly am urging that the rebuilding process provide opportunities to do so with climate protections and to provide more equitably,” said Fred Quinn III, PA Former Swissvale Borough Council Member. “Now more egregious efforts by the Trump administration’s EPA will result in more pollution inundating economically stressed communities, especially environmental justice communities where people live too close to polluting industries that have been forced to clean up since the Endangerment Finding law went into effect in 2009. With that foundation now removed, the path is clear for EPA to rescind greenhouse gas regulations for power plants, aircraft, oil and gas operations, and other sectors—and the Agency has already stated its intent to do exactly that. We must fight this unjust ruling that only serves industries that have continuously put profits over the lives of people.”
In 2024 alone, the U.S. experienced 27 billion-dollar weather and climate disasters.
The climate crisis hits families and communities financially hard as health care and insurance costs rise, and lives, homes, jobs and crops are lost or damaged in floods, droughts and increasingly dangerous weather. Reducing climate pollution, as the Endangerment Finding required, was leading to cleaner air, better health, more jobs and safer communities. Without this bedrock law, communities will experience more unnecessary pollution, more harms and higher costs across the country.
The oil and gas sector remains the nation’s largest industrial source of methane emissions. Estimates suggest industry leaks over 500,000 tons annually, impacting air quality and contributing to the climate crisis.
“My beautiful state of Pennsylvania is a top U.S. natural gas producer and has significant methane emissions. The Endangerment Finding provided the legal foundation for methane monitoring and control requirements across petroleum and natural gas systems. Without its scientific restraints on the industry, more communities will suffer,” added Fred Quinn III. “We must transition from burning fossil fuels to clean energy. Not only is clean energy safer, it’s more affordable, more reliable and brings true energy security.”
A 2021 Harvard study estimated that fossil fuel air pollution is responsible for 1 in 5 premature deaths worldwide.
“My beloved state has the second largest oil and gas extraction. It’s incumbent on me to speak out for our children and all our futures as the burning of fossil fuels endangers everyone, everywhere. It is a clear and present danger. We need to stop our dependency on fossil fuels as an energy source. Utility bills have skyrocketed as polluting natural gas is still a major supplier of energy to utility companies. Price fluctuations at the gas pump are hurting Americans again. This time because of this administration’s actions in Iran. The stress of not knowing if the bills will get paid on time has become a way of life for way too many families,” said New Mexico State Representative Debbie Sariñana, a retired teacher, Air Force veteran, Elected Officials to Protect America (EOPA) New Mexico Director and EOPA National Leadership Council Co-chair. “We have the opportunity to become energy secure by transitioning off of fossil fuels to clean energy. We were on that road until this administration reversed direction, favoring polluting corporations that for decades hid the truth that they knew their products directly harm public health and the environment. It’s up to elected officials to ensure we protect the people we represent from the clear and present danger of the climate crisis fueled by fossil fuels.”
Methane releases can occur alongside other substances. Co-pollutants include: Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene. Benzene is a well-established carcinogen. Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) often causes eye irritation, headaches and nausea. Nitrogen oxides are linked to respiratory irritation and worsening asthma symptoms.
Power plants are the nation’s second-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, and the Endangerment Finding was the legal linchpin for the government to regulate that sector. Power plant rules, oil and gas methane standards, landfill regulations, aircraft emissions—all can trace their legal lineage back to the Endangerment Finding.
“The Finding became the foundational environmental law that touched virtually every corner of the economy—automakers, trucking companies, utilities, oil and gas producers, and airlines. Without it, industries have no regulatory safeguards to keep them from polluting climate crisis greenhouse gas,” said Pat Spearman, Former Nevada State Senator, Army Veteran, pastor, Elected Officials to Protect America National Task Force Chair. “The climate crisis fuels instability around the world, spurring conflicts as people are forced to vie for scarce resources. Local conflicts turn into wars. That’s why our military refers to the climate crisis as a threat multiplier. Petrostates bent on selling oil and dictators, like Putin, using oil as a weapon of war have continued to make the world energy insecure. Now the U.S. is involved in Venezuela and Iran, apparently for oil. All these souls sacrificed for black gold is a moral outrage. We’ve been involved in too many conflicts over fossil fuel resources. True energy security relies on clean energy.”
The scientific evidence connecting GHG pollution to human health is strong:
- Power plants: Coal and gas-fired power plants are responsible for about 25 percent of climate pollution in the U.S. In 2024, the EPA finalized a suite of rules to address greenhouse gas emissions and other forms of pollution from fossil fuel power plants.
- Transportation: The transportation sector accounts for the largest portion (28 percent) of total climate pollution in the U.S. In 2024, the EPA finalized new Clean Car Standards to reduce pollution from new passenger cars, light trucks and vans. The EPA also finalized protective greenhouse gas standards for heavy-duty trucks in 2024.
- Oil and gas operations: Methane is a potent greenhouse gas with more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide. About 30 percent of today’s global warming is driven by methane emissions from human actions, including methane leaks from oil and gas companies. In 2023, the EPA finalized a rule that will sharply reduce methane emissions and other dangerous pollutants from the oil and gas industry.
The EPA’s action repealing the Endangerment Finding is being challenged in court. On February 18, 2026, a coalition of environmental and public health groups—including the American Public Health Association, American Lung Association, NRDC, EDF, Sierra Club, and others—filed suit in the D.C. Circuit.
