Updated Feb 10, 2026 - Technology

EPA on the verge of killing off the core of its climate regulations

Ben Geman

Illustration of multiple sets of business people arguing in the exhaust of a giant tailpipe — Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

EPA's reversal of the formal 2009 scientific finding that greenhouse gases threaten humans will be issued Thursday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

Why it matters: Rescinding the "endangerment finding" is the Trump administration's most direct effort yet to rip out climate regulations root and branch — and make it harder for a successor to impose new ones.

The big picture: "This amounts to the largest act of deregulation in the history of the United States," EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin told the Wall Street Journal.

Leavitt said Tuesday that the move "is just one more way this administration is working to make life more affordable for everyday Americans."
The rule is certain to draw litigation that will play out over years.

State of play: The agency is planning to remove the finding with respect to motor vehicle emissions specifically.

But that could bring challenges to regulation of emissions from power plants, oil and gas sites, and beyond.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect White House's announcement that the repeal would occur on Thursday.

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EPA on the verge of killing off the core of its climate regulations

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