The Environmental Protection Agency this week plans to repeal a key legal finding and regulatory framework that currently says greenhouse gases are responsible for global warming and threats to human health.
"On Thursday, President Trump will be joined by Administrator Lee Zeldin to formalize the rescission of the 2009 Obama-era endangerment finding,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on Tuesday.
“This will be the largest deregulatory action in American history, and it will save the American people $1.3 trillion in crushing regulations.”
.@PressSec: “[The recission of the 2009 Obama-era Endangerment Finding] will be the largest deregulatory action in American history and it will save the American people $1.3 TRILLION in crushing regulation.” https://t.co/KfoIWIyMa6 pic.twitter.com/p1SXD2AqDX
— Lee Zeldin (@epaleezeldin) February 10, 2026
The Trump administration first proposed the rule change in July of 2025. It would repeal the EPA's current legal support for regulations on vehicles, energy generation and other sources of greenhouse gas emissions.
FROM 2025 | Trump administration moves to repeal key finding that allows climate regulation
Then, too, administration officials framed the move as a way to provide economic relief for Americans.
"There are people who, in the name of climate change, are willing to bankrupt the country," EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said at the time. "They created this endangerment finding and then they are able to put all these regulations on vehicles, on airplanes, on stationary sources, to basically regulate out of existence, in many cases, a lot of segments of our economy. And it cost Americans a lot of money."
Savings are expected to come from lowered sale prices for vehicles including cars, SUVs and light trucks, Leavitt said on Tuesday, with average savings per vehicle coming to more than $2,400 if systems to manage and limit tailpipe emissions are eliminated.
Transportation is the largest single source of U.S. greenhouse emissions, according to the EPA.
Specific details of the rule change are not yet available. The administration released a draft of the proposed rescission in August of 2025.
The change is expected to draw swift legal challenges from environmental groups.
In 2007, the Supreme Court ruled that greenhouse gas emissions were pollutants under the Clean Air Act. Since then, courts have supported that decision.
Administration continues pro-fossil push
Separately from the endangerment finding, the administration has proposed repealing "all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards for fossil fuel-fired power plants."
And on Wednesday, the day before the endangerment finding is set to be reversed, President Trump is expected to be at an event to "tout clean, beautiful coal," Leavitt said.
