The Clean Air Act — and your family's health and safety — are under attack
Amidst a blitz of efforts to weaken protections for clean air, clean water and health, this is one to watch.
The Clean Air Act is a safety net that protects people from pollution — like soot that damages lungs and hearts, smog-forming pollution that can turn babies into lifelong asthma patients, and planet-warming climate pollution from major industries that is fueling more smog, deadly heat waves, stronger storms and wildfires.
But Lee Zeldin, the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency, has announced that he is prepared to take a broad swipe at this bedrock law — and at the ability of his own agency to protect people from these harms.
“When it comes to the environment, the second Trump administration is taking actions that will increase pollution and harm people in a manner that is even more extreme than the first,” said Peter Zalzal, distinguished counsel and associate vice president for clean air strategies at Environmental Defense Fund. “The administration is trying to take a bulldozer to decades of clean air progress.”
An attack designed by Project 2025
Administrator Zeldin’s announcement concerns an obscurely named but critical EPA decision called the Endangerment Finding. In 2009, it concluded that greenhouse gas pollution is a threat to human health and safety and that the EPA has the power — and the obligation — to limit how much is dumped into the air, just as it does for any harmful pollutant.
Attacking this finding is a strategy that comes straight from Project 2025 — the widely unpopular policy playbook crafted by President Trump’s loyalists, some of whom have since taken on powerful government roles. Reversing it would imperil Clean Air Act limits on dangerous climate pollution from power plants, vehicles, landfills and oil and gas infrastructure. These safeguards were crafted with broad input, including from industries, communities and environmental and public health experts, to ensure they’re technically achievable, cost-effective and protect people in communities across the country.
Ignoring the science of harm
A mountain of scientific evidence shows definitively that greenhouse gases threaten our health. Greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere, like a blanket wrapped around the planet. That trapped heat warms the air, allowing it to hold more moisture, leading to more intense downpours that can trigger flooding.
It warms the oceans, too, fueling more intense hurricanes and higher sea levels that build destructive storm surges from those hurricanes. Rising temperatures can also lead to more evaporation from the ground and plants, making droughts more likely, which increases wildfire risk.
This pollution is also linked to worsening air quality, like smog, which causes asthma and other respiratory issues.
By reducing greenhouse gas pollution, the EPA can help protect people from a future of even more costly and damaging impacts to health, homes and livelihoods.
“With communities still reeling from the disastrous Los Angeles wildfires and the unprecedented devastation of Hurricane Helene, it is especially cynical to claim that greenhouse gases aren’t dangerous,” said Zalzal. “We all know greenhouse gas pollution is harmful just as we know the lead that used to be in paint, gasoline and water pipes is toxic. EPA’s standards to reduce climate pollution are commonsense and the EPA must continue to do its job protecting communities from this harmful pollution.”
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The fight ahead
The administration will face an uphill battle. The EPA’s power to protect people from climate pollution has been challenged before, and time and time again has been upheld by multiple courts, including the Supreme Court.
Given the immense stakes, public health and environmental groups are preparing to oppose the administration’s effort. Even major companies and trade associations, including the American Petroleum Institute and Edison Electric Institute, have recognized the importance of stable, federal safeguards to reduce climate pollution. In a statement, Edison Electric said it would prefer a consistent federal framework to a patchwork of state regulations and lawsuits.
Environmental Defense Fund has already filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit to compel the release of information related to Zeldin’s recommendation. The group had filed a FOIA request earlier, but the administration failed to respond by the legal deadline.
“The public has a right to know why Administrator Zeldin — the head of the agency charged with protecting the public from the harms of climate change — has instead chosen to trample the science and do the exact opposite,” said Zalzal. “The Endangerment Finding is foundational to the EPA’s ability to protect us and we will do all we can to preserve this bedrock safeguard.”
Hope for a warming planet
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