EPA Repeals Endangerment Finding — Kills All Federal Climate Regulation
EPA Administrator Zeldin repealed the scientific finding underpinning all federal climate regulation, calling it "driving a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion." Mercury regulations were also gutted, raising projected emissions 23%.
On February 11, 2026, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the repeal of the 2009 EPA endangerment finding — the foundational scientific determination that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare. This finding underpinned virtually every federal climate regulation.
Zeldin called it "the single largest act of deregulation in the history of the United States" and declared the EPA was "driving a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion."
The repeal eliminates the legal basis for:
- Emissions limits for power plants
- Vehicle emission standards
- Methane regulations for oil and gas
- Dozens of other climate-related rules
Separately, the EPA rolled back mercury air toxics regulations, with the agency's own projections showing a 23% increase in mercury emissions by 2030. Communities near coal plants — including the Northern Cheyenne tribe — face the most direct health consequences.
The endangerment finding was based on decades of scientific consensus reviewed by the National Academy of Sciences. Its repeal represents the most comprehensive rejection of climate science by any government in the developed world.