You’ve heard of the Green New Deal, the Left’s overreaching climate agenda, but do you know about the “Endangerment Finding,” a policy enacted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under former President Barack Obama that President Donald Trump is considering repealing?
The 2009 Endangerment Finding regulates so-called greenhouse gas emissions. It is the shaky foundation of policies like mandating the production of electric vehicles or closing coal-fired power plants before the U.S. has the infrastructure to replace them.
As I previously reported, with the Endangerment Finding, EPA said, “elevated concentrations of the six greenhouse gases in the atmosphere — carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) — endanger both the public health and the public welfare of current and future generations.”
The Endangerment Finding reasons if it is a danger, it must be restricted, and that is how climate activist bureaucrats can make rules defining the amount of CO2 that can be released from power plants, factories, and vehicles, or how much methane can be released from cow toots.
In March, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the agency was “driving a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion,” by reconsidering certain regulations, including the Endangerment Finding.
A group of energy and climate experts speaking in a call this week released a list of reasons to reverse the Endangerment Finding. They are the American Energy Institute, The Heartland Institute, The Energy and Environment Legal Institute, The Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), and Truth in Energy in Climate. Here are some of the reasons they give to reverse the Endangerment Finding.
Establish American Energy Dominance
The U.S. has a wealth of fossil fuels that can be used globally. Unleashing U.S. energy will create jobs and lower costs in the U.S. and globally.
“We need to get affordable and reliable energy around the world, and we produce that energy more responsibly than anywhere else,” Jason Isaac, CEO of the American Energy Institute, said on the call.
Re-industrialize America
The U.S. has become dependent on foreign nations for manufacturing. One reason is emissions standards that are difficult to reach. In some states, manufactures are forced to cap the amount of CO2 emissions they release by reducing production, retrofit their production process, or buy “CO2 allowances” to make up for going over the CO2 limit government officials have defined. It is another regulation that makes it cheaper to make things in other countries.
Ensure Electricity Grid Reliability
In an attempt to reduce “greenhouse gas” emissions in the generation of electricity, governments have propped up unreliable sources of energy like solar and wind with subsidies, giving them an unfair advantage in competition against more reliable fossil fuel-based electricity. Solar does not work at night, and if the wind does not blow, windmills don’t produce energy. But the demand for electricity is constant. When power companies need more fuel to meet energy demand, they can’t make the sun shine, but they can throw another shovel of coal in the fire or increase the flow of natural gas.
Consumers sometimes forget, when charging an electric vehicle, they are using fossil fuel from the power company.
Promote Agriculture
The Endangerment Finding is a threat to agriculture, Sterling Burnett, Director of the Robinson Center on Climate and Environmental Policy at The Heartland Institute, said during the discussion.
“It is clear that carbon dioxide is a benefit to agriculture. It is plant food.” Agriculture production can show improved yields tied directly to increased CO2. The Endangerment Finding is in conflict with pesticides, fertilizer, and transportation fuels. “The fuels to plant and harvest — they’re all fossil fuels. Agriculture is heavily fossil fuel dependent, and it has made [U.S.] agriculture the envy of the world, with high production, high yield based on fossil fuels…where international organizations have taken fears of carbon dioxide into account, they have wrecked their agriculture industry in some countries, resulting in riots. We don’t want that here in America. In fact, what we want is continue to improve yields, continue to improve agriculture.”
Restore Consumer Choice
The Endangerment Finding has been used to push electric vehicles and to regulate the manufacture of refrigerators, air conditioners, washers and dryers.
“You wonder where that comes from. It comes from climate alarmism and this Endangerment Finding,” Rucker said. “The EPA and Department of Energy use it for fuel efficiency standards …state and local governments have also moved on this. When it comes to wood fired stoves or fireplaces in your home. You wonder where this is coming from, it’s coming from the fact that the EPA is now considering carbon dioxide and fossil fuels pollution.”
Reduce Government Waste
“Tremendous sums of money have been funneled to radical organizations, just waste, fraud and abuse in the name of trying to protect you from climate change, driven by the Endangerment Finding,” said Rucker.
The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund alone aims to spend $27 billion to facilitate financing and private capital for “greenhouse gas- and air pollution-reducing projects in communities across the country.”
“That’s tremendous sums of money towards something that is not based in science,” Rucker said.
Beth Brelje is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. She is an award-winning investigative journalist with decades of media experience.
