In what the Trump EPA calls the largest act of deregulation in U.S. history, it is moving to repeal the 2009 Endangerment Finding, the scientific and legal determination that greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane endanger public health.

This would be a horrible, far reaching decision for our Earth and for future generations. It removes the central scientific and legal basis the federal government uses to limit climate pollution, right as extreme heat, fires, floods, and storms are getting more destructive and more costly.

If that finding is erased, the federal government loses the core authority behind U.S. climate protections, including vehicle emission limits and power plant standards that cut planet heating pollution.

This is not a technical adjustment. It is a deliberate dismantling of the legal foundation used for more than a decade to control the pollution driving heatwaves, extreme storms, wildfires, drought, and rising seas.

The Endangerment Finding came directly from Supreme Court direction and a massive scientific record. After Massachusetts v. EPA, the agency reviewed the evidence and concluded greenhouse gases threaten human health and welfare. Courts have upheld that conclusion again and again.

Now EPA leadership is trying to strike it from the books using selective reports and fringe arguments that contradict the overwhelming scientific consensus.

Repealing it does not change the science or the physics. It strips away the government’s ability to act. It weakens existing limits, blocks future safeguards, and gives major polluters the upper hand while court battles drag on.

What people can do now is speak up and stay engaged: contact your representatives, support science based climate policy, back organizations doing legal and environmental advocacy, and vote in local and national elections where environmental regulation is on the ballot. Public pressure and civic action still matter.