WASHINGTON—The Heritage Foundation released the following statements today applauding the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to rescind the Obama-era endangerment finding, which has served as the legal foundation for a sweeping array of costly and burdensome greenhouse gas emissions regulations.
Derrick Morgan, executive vice president of Heritage, stated:
“President Trump's rescission of the Obama administration's 2009 Endangerment Finding is on solid legal, economic, and scientific grounds.
“The Clean Air Act simply does not give EPA the power of a central planner for the economy, as Obama and Biden's greenhouse gas regulations envisioned. Catastrophic global warming claims relied on models that systematically overstated the warming and extreme weather events that have occurred since, while the impact of eliminating U.S. vehicle GHGs is so vanishingly small that it wouldn't even be measurable.
“Combined with needed permitting reform, this action can pave the way for the energy abundance and affordability that America's working families need and deserve while bringing to bear our plentiful energy resources to compete with China.”
The decision by the Trump administration will save Americans billions of dollars, reduce road deaths and injuries, and increase economic growth. Heritage research shows that, while climate change is occurring, its effects are vastly overstated and should not constitute the basis for regulating energy in the American economy, including the automotive industry.
Dr. E.J. Antoni, chief economist and acting director of the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Studies added:
“Rescinding this failed bureaucratic overreach is tremendous news for the American people and American business. The empirical evidence is quite clear: this reduction in burdensome, inefficient regulation will save consumers, workers, and employers well over $1 trillion. It’s welcome news that, under the Trump administration, the American people come first once again, not radical political ideology.”
