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

ORLANDO Fla. - 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 at a White House event this Thursday, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin will formalize climate denialism as official government policy and move to eliminate EPA's ability to directly fight the climate crisis.

The 2009 finding-based on the overwhelming scientific evidence that carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases endanger our health, our economy, and our future by driving global climate change-has been upheld unanimously in federal court.

The finding gives EPA the formal statutory authority and obligation to regulate emissions of these heat-trapping gases from motor vehicles-the largest source of climate pollution in the United States-and laid the ground for control of greenhouse gas emissions from other major sources like power plants. It was adopted following a rigorous rulemaking process considering thousands of public comments and a massive record of scientific research, which has grown far more voluminous in the intervening years.

"Extreme, deadly weather, powerful hurricanes and storms are disrupting communities here in Florida and around the country, destroying and upending the lives of far too many people," said Susannah Randolph, Sierra Club Florida Chapter Director. "Rather than serving those bearing the brunt of these storms, plus the financial costs of expensive coal power and its many negative health impacts, Trump is continuing to line the pockets of corporate executives. Floridians will pay for the President's reckless decision today. We at Sierra Club Florida will not back down without a fight."

"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.