EPA Repeals The Legal Basis For Regulating Greenhouse Gases

The endangerment finding forced the EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Now, the agency says it doesn’t have the authority to do that.

On February 12, the Environmental Protection Agency dealt a major blow to the government’s power to fight climate change by rescinding a key piece of research called the endangerment finding. The finding, issued in 2009, basically says: Greenhouse gas emissions endanger public health and welfare—and because they’re harmful, they must be regulated. It's the legal basis for the federal government’s regulation of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. So what does it mean that this finding has been thrown out?

Host Flora Lichtman digs into this question with Andy Miller, an original author on the endangerment finding who spent more than 30 years working for the EPA.

Guest:
Dr. Andy Miller worked on air pollution and climate change at the EPA for more than 30 years. He was an original author on Endangerment Finding.

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