EPA chief Lee Zeldin to repeal ‘holy grail’ Obama-era emissions finding that hiked energy costs for years

WASHINGTON — Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin is moving to repeal an Obama-era emissions finding he once dubbed the “holy grail of the climate change religion” that underpinned $1 trillion in regulations — leading to higher energy costs for more than a decade.

Zeldin revealed plans to rescind the 2009 Endangerment Finding during a speech at an Indianapolis auto dealership on Tuesday, promising to “end sixteen years of uncertainty for automakers and American consumers” with “the largest deregulatory announcement in US history.”

“In our work so far, many stakeholders have told me that the Obama and Biden EPAs twisted the law, ignored precedent, and warped science to achieve their preferred ends and stick American families with hundreds of billions of dollars in hidden taxes every single year,” said the former Long Island congressman.

“We heard loud and clear the concern that EPA’s GHG [greenhouse gas] emissions standards themselves, not carbon dioxide — which the Finding never assessed independently — was the real threat to Americans’ livelihoods,” Zeldin went on. “If finalized, rescinding the Endangerment Finding and resulting regulations would end $1 trillion or more in hidden taxes on American businesses and families.”

The EPA has projected that rescinding the finding could save American consumers alone up to $54 billion in annual costs.

Under Obama, the EPA determined that carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride emissions, primarily from cars, were threatening to the “public health and welfare of current and future generations.”

No immediate regulations were imposed but the finding allowed the 44th president’s administration to put forward seven subsequent rules affecting the auto industry, as well as others touching on energy issues.

Zeldin’s proposal would scrap the finding that allowed both Obama’s and former President Joe Biden’s EPA to regulate emissions by vehicles that are light-, medium- and heavy-duty as well as those with heavy-duty engines under Section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act.

The rules began taking effect for light-duty vehicles — including cars, vans, SUVs and pickup trucks — in 2010 but later ramped up to cover all models. Biden used it to justify his push for mass production of electric vehicles during his administration.

“This electric-truck mandate put the trucking industry on a path to economic ruin and would have crippled our supply chain, disrupted deliveries, and raised prices for American families and businesses,” said American Trucking Association President Chris Spear, who joined Zeldin at the event alongside Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Indiana GOP Gov. Mike Braun.

“Moreover, it kicked innovation to the curb by discarding available technologies that can further drive down emissions at a fraction of the cost.”

Democrats in Congress panned the move, with Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), the ranking member on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, telling Politico it amounted to “a despicable betrayal of the American people.”

“President Trump and his EPA administrator are now pretending that climate pollution does not endanger human health or the environment — not because there is any scientific justification, but because it helps line the pockets of their billionaire corporate polluter friends,” Pallone said.

The reversal comes as Zeldin is seeking to cut red tape for other energy-related issues.

Several recent US Supreme Court cases have aided Trump’s EPA leader in limiting the agency’s regulatory authority — including scrapping emissions standards that controlled coal and gas power plants generating electricity.

The White House Office of Management and Budget is also planning on addressing rescission of the Obama-era finding at other agencies.

“Since the Obama EPA illegally issued its unconstitutional endangerment finding in 2009, more than half of the US coal industry has been destroyed, electricity prices have soared, and the average price of cars has almost doubled,” said Steve Milloy, senior fellow at the Energy and Environment Legal Institute and an adviser to Trump’s EPA transition team.

“Where do wrongly terminated coal miners, wrecked coal industry-dependent communities and ripped-off consumers go for redress of the injuries inflicted by a climate-hoaxed crazed federal government?”