EPA’s rollback of landmark clean air rule will drive up costs, give polluters a free pass

ANN ARBOR, MI – The Michigan League of Conservation Voters (Michigan LCV) today issued the following statement in response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s repeal of the 2009 Endangerment Finding – the foundational scientific determination that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare. The move dismantles decades of climate progress, eliminates vital pollution standards, and strips the EPA of its legal authority to protect Americans from the harmful pollution that creates more extreme weather, illnesses, and even premature death.

“Repealing the Endangerment Finding puts Michigan families at risk and will drive up costs. It gives polluters a free pass to dump more smog and soot into the air—fueling asthma attacks, heart disease, and hospital visits, especially for children and seniors,” said Bentley Johnson, federal government affairs director for the Michigan League of Conservation Voters. “The Trump administration’s repeal of the Endangerment Finding is an unprecedented attack on the Clean Air Act and will result in dirtier air, poorer health and strain on Michiganders’ pocketbooks.”

The Endangerment Finding is the EPA’s determination that greenhouse gas pollution endangers public health and welfare. Rolling back the Endangerment Finding undermines the EPA’s authority to act, putting vulnerable communities at significant risk and exacerbating the climate crisis. This move solidifies the EPA’s position that impacts from fossil fuel generation and pollution should only be considered when those impacts affect industry, not human health.