• Posted February 13, 2026

Trump Scuttles Key Climate Finding Used to Control Greenhouse Gases

President Donald Trump is undoing a long-standing scientific finding that says climate change threatens human health and the environment.

The move strips the federal government of much of its power to limit greenhouse gas pollution.

The decision targets the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) "endangerment finding," a 2009 finding that carbon dioxide, methane and other gases harm people by causing extreme heat, droughts and wildfires.

“This is about as big as it gets,” Trump said at the White House. “We are officially terminating the so-called ‘endangerment finding,’ a disastrous Obama-era policy,” he said.

Standing beside him, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin called the move “the single largest deregulatory action in the history of the United States.”

For nearly 17 years, the finding has been used to support rules that limit pollution from cars, power plants, and oil and gas operations. By ending it, the administration can now roll back many of those rules.

Trump said the finding led to policies he dislikes, including efforts to reduce fossil fuel use and expand renewable energy.

Climate experts say greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere, warming the planet and making heat waves, wildfires, floods and droughts far more dangerous.

The Earth has already warmed about 1.4 degrees Celsius (2.5 degrees Fahrenheit) since the Industrial Age, according to Europe’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Environmental groups warn the health effects of Trump’s actions could be severe.

The Environmental Defense Fund estimates the repeal could add up to 18 billion metric tons of climate pollution by 2055.

That amount of pollution could lead to as many as 184,000 early deaths and 37 million asthma attacks over time, the group added.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum defended the move earlier this week, saying carbon dioxide (CO₂) “was never a pollutant.”

Scientists point out that while plants need CO₂, high levels in the air overwhelm natural systems and worsen extreme weather.

Democratic leaders and environmental groups say they will challenge the decision in court.

“If this reckless decision survives legal challenges, it will lead to more deadly wildfires, more extreme heat deaths, more climate-driven floods and droughts, and greater threats to communities nationwide,” said California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a likely 2028 Democratic presidential hopeful. He added that California plans to sue.

Transportation is the largest source of climate pollution in the U.S. The decision removes federal limits on greenhouse gases from cars and trucks, though limits on other harmful pollutants remain.

The U.S. is currently the world’s second-largest climate polluter, after China. It is also the country that has released the most greenhouse gases over time.

Scientists warn that continued warming raises the risk of heat-related deaths, asthma, wildfire smoke exposure and the spread of diseases carried by insects. Last year, cases of dengue among U.S. travelers abroad rose by 30%, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Nearly every country agreed under the 2015 Paris Agreement to try to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).

Trump has now withdrawn the U.S. from that agreement.

Critics say ending the endangerment finding could make it much harder for future presidents to limit climate pollution.

More information

The American Lung Association has more on the dangers of ignoring greenhouse gas emissions.

SOURCE: The New York Times, Feb. 12, 2026