The Environmental Protection Agency has revoked the endangerment finding that served as the legal foundation for regulating greenhouse gas emissions from cars, power plants, and industrial sources. The finding, originally ordered by the Supreme Court in 2007 and completed during the Obama administration, has underpinned all federal carbon dioxide regulations since its creation.

Despite leaving the finding in place during his first term, the Trump administration now argues it was legally flawed and scientifically unsound. The EPA claims the decision will save $1.3 trillion in costs, though this figure relies on creative accounting that ignores the health costs of increased pollution. The agency assembled a group of contrarians to challenge the scientific consensus on human-driven climate change, though their efforts faced significant legal and scientific pushback.

The move appears designed to take advantage of the current Supreme Court's anti-regulation majority, with the EPA suggesting recent court decisions have clarified that the 2007 ruling was wrongly decided. This decision will likely end up before the Supreme Court, where the administration hopes to permanently eliminate any legal requirement to address climate change. The reversal represents a significant shift in federal environmental policy and could have lasting impacts on America's ability to meet climate goals.