Sierra Club Massachusetts Statement on Trump Administration’s Planned Elimination of the EPA’s Endangerment Finding

BOSTON - In a brazen assault on the health and welfare of the American public, the Trump administration announced that it will finalize its rule revoking the Environmental Protection Agency's longstanding greenhouse gas endangerment finding under the federal Clean Air Act. With the stroke of a pen, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has now formalized climate denialism as official government policy and moved to eliminate EPA's ability to directly fight the climate crisis. Both in Washington D.C. and the Massachusetts Statehouse, dangerous proposals ignore science and will lead to tangible public health consequences.

In 2002, Sierra Club filed the first climate case under the Clean Air Act in federal court, seeking to force EPA to limit greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles under the statute. That lawsuit ultimately led to the Court's 2007 holding in Massachusetts v. EPAthat the Clean Air Act does cover greenhouse gas pollution and the agency's issuance of the endangerment finding.

Now, 25 years later, Trump and Zeldin are trying to turn back the clock on the Endangerment Finding and rollback several other rules including MATS standards, clean vehicle standards, and monument protections. In the wake of today's announcements, the Sierra Club and partners are exploring all legal options in response, including litigation.

"Any one of Trump's attacks announced in isolation would leave a stain on American history," said Vick Mohanka, Sierra Club Massachusetts Chapter Director. "However, in combining these attacks, Trump is telling us exactly who he is: an undisputed champion of expensive energy and deadly pollution. The endangerment finding repeal is a handout to corporate polluters who poison our water and our air. Americans from all walks of life will pay for it. We won Massachusetts v. EPAin a landmark victory for peoples' health and our climate. We will continue to stand steadfast in our opposition to harmful federal or state rollbacks like we've seen from Beacon Hill and the White House."

"The Trump administration is making it their official policy that our lives, our health, and our future is of no importance to them, only polluter profits," said Sierra Club Executive Director Loren Blackford. "Climate change is wreaking havoc right now, destroying communities and endangering our lives. Instead of fighting it, Donald Trump is helping corporate polluters profit. Removing EPA's authority to limit deadly greenhouse gas emissions is as shortsighted as it is stupid. Communities will suffer as extreme weather continues to threaten us all, costs will rise, and we will saddle future generations with a world that grows increasingly unlivable and endangers the life we know. This decision should be called what it is on its face: Trump is abandoning his job to help the American people. We will do everything in our power to block this misguided effort that puts polluters before people."

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit https://www.sierraclub.org.