Estimates suggest as many as 17,000 people could die by 2050 from pollution-related deaths. (Adobe Stock)
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Feb 24, 2026
By Zamone Perez
As President Donald Trump prepares to deliver his State of the Union address, experts are calling the administration’s repeal of the Endangerment Finding bad for public health.
The legal finding states greenhouse gas emissions threaten the health and welfare of the public and forms the basis for the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulations on tailpipe emissions. Earlier this month, the Trump administration announced it would revoke the finding.
Dr. Bobby Mahajan, director of interventional pulmonology at Inova Health System, said fewer protections for clean air could threaten at-risk groups like children, the elderly and those with chronic health conditions.
“We need to look at not just the idea of what the plan is now but for our future generations,” Mahajan explained. “We want to make sure that they’re providing healthy air and something that’s safe. We stand behind the Endangerment Finding, which is supported by law and science and has been a cornerstone for protection for more than 15 years.”
The Trump administration has defended the move, claiming revoking the finding is one of the largest deregulatory actions in American history and will save taxpayers more than a trillion dollars.
Mahajan pushed back on the argument, believing the costs to public health will be far more than the initial savings of deregulation.
“When we look at the long-term impact with regards to health, hospital admissions, cancer diagnoses, and in a lot of ways just changing the standard by which we take care of patients with lung disease, this will have a huge windfall in the near future but also for decades to come,” Mahajan stressed. “The long-term implications of this are going to honestly cost us more money.”
Independent modeling estimated the repeal of the tailpipe pollution standards will cause 17,000 pollution-related premature deaths by 2050.
