Long before Trump: How US policy has harmed the environment for decades
Al Jazeera • • nation
Key Points:
- Health and environment advocacy groups in the US are suing the EPA over the Trump administration's withdrawal of the 2009 "endangerment finding," which identified greenhouse gases as a public health and environmental risk and served as a legal basis for climate regulations.
- Rescinding the endangerment finding removes key EPA authority to limit greenhouse gas emissions, potentially allowing increased pollution from power plants, oil refineries, and other fossil fuel industries, with adverse effects on public health and climate-related disasters.
- Trump’s rollback of environmental policies marks an unprecedented level of deregulation compared to previous administrations, prioritizing fossil fuel interests and reversing climate protections established under Obama.
- Historically, US environmental policy has fluctuated across administrations, with both Republicans and Democrats enacting
