Trump Revokes EPA Climate Rule After Fossil Fuel Industry Donated $75 Million to Campaign
Published · Updated · 6 min read
The Trump administration has eliminated a 16-year-old scientific determination that greenhouse gases threaten public health, marking what officials call the most significant deregulatory action in U.S. history, according to an Official EPA press release on the decision.
The move comes after oil and gas executives donated at least $75 million to Trump’s 2024 campaign following his direct request for $1 billion in support, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
Senator Bernie Sanders condemned the action, stating it betrays future generations to benefit fossil fuel billionaires.
Key Climate Protection Eliminated
The 2009 Endangerment Finding served as the legal foundation for nearly all federal climate regulations. The Environmental Protection Agency originally determined that six greenhouse gases—including carbon dioxide and methane—constitute air pollution under the Clean Air Act and endanger Americans’ health.
For 16 years, this finding enabled regulations limiting emissions from vehicles, power plants, and industrial facilities, which are now subject to a Federal Register notice proposing repeal of the 2009 Endangerment Finding and GHG vehicle standards.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin argued the determination exceeded the agency’s authority and should be decided by Congress instead. The administration also claimed that eliminating all U.S. vehicle emissions would have “no material impact on global climate indicators through 2100.”
Scientists Reject Administration’s Claims
Climate experts strongly disputed the administration’s reasoning. Joe Goffman, who led the EPA’s air office under President Biden and wrote many climate rules now being repealed, called the move “frankly, stupid.”
The National Academies of Sciences stated that climate understanding once uncertain in 2009 is now resolved, with new threats identified since then.
The International Court of Justice recently affirmed that greenhouse gas emissions “unequivocally” stem from human activities and constitute an existential threat to the planet. Global carbon dioxide levels reached 422.8 parts per million in 2024—the highest on record—with the largest single-year increase ever measured at 3.75 parts per million.
Financial Ties Between Industry and Policy
Trump explicitly told oil and gas executives their donations would give them access to his policy agenda. One oil executive described Trump’s offer as a valuable “deal,” noting that avoided taxes and regulations justified the investment.
Beyond campaign donations, fossil fuel interests contributed $11.8 million to Trump’s inauguration fund and over $25 million to his main super PAC. Energy Transfer Partners and its CEO Kelcy Warren alone gave $25 million.
The returns came quickly. Trump ended a pause on liquefied natural gas exports and cleared the way for Energy Transfer Partners to extend a major project. CEO Kelcy Warren’s personal wealth increased nearly 10 percent as a result.
Occidental Petroleum, which donated $1 million to the inaugural committee, increased its five-year capital spending plan by $63 billion for fossil fuel infrastructure. Chevron forecasts oil and gas production increases of 6 to 8 percent in 2025.
Industry Veterans Now Control Environmental Policy
An analysis of 111 officials appointed to nine agencies found 43 former fossil fuel industry employees now hold positions of influence. Of 37 nominees to key environmental agencies requiring Senate confirmation, 25 had ties to polluting industries.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright founded and led Liberty Energy, a fracking company. Under his leadership, the Department of Energy commissioned a report that climate scientists described as “antiscientific” for downplaying greenhouse gas impacts.
Audrey Robertson, nominated to lead the Department of Energy’s efficiency and renewable energy office, is a former fracking executive with no apparent experience in alternative energy.
Communities of Color Face Greatest Health Risks
Black Americans are exposed to more pollution than every other racial and ethnic group on average and are most likely to die prematurely because of it.
An EPA analysis found that with 2 degrees Celsius of global warming, Black Americans are 34 percent more likely to live in areas with the highest projected increases in childhood asthma diagnoses. That figure rises to 41 percent at 4 degrees of warming.
The Biden administration calculated its tailpipe pollution standards would have provided $13 billion in annual health benefits, with disproportionate benefits for people of color and low-income residents.
Children face special vulnerability because their airways are small and still developing, they breathe more rapidly than adults, and their immune systems are immature. Growing up breathing high levels of air pollution affects lung development and increases disease risk later in life.
Environmental disease in children costs an estimated $76.6 billion annually in the United States. Asthma alone accounts for $2.2 billion in direct medical care and indirect costs like lost parental work days.
Economic Costs Far Exceed Claimed Savings
The administration claims eliminating greenhouse gas regulations will save businesses $1.3 trillion. But a study in the journal Nature found climate change will likely cost approximately $38 trillion per year by 2049—more than double the annual GDP of the entire European Union.
Economic damages from climate change over the next 25 years are projected to outweigh mitigation costs by a factor of six.
The global economy sustained more than $2 trillion in damages from extreme weather over the past decade. In the United States alone, over 400 weather and climate disasters from 1980 to 2024 resulted in damages reaching or exceeding $1 billion each.
Over the past seven years, 122 separate billion-dollar disasters killed at least 5,000 people and cost over $1 trillion in damages. The annual cost averaged $119.1 billion—nearly triple the inflation-adjusted average over the preceding 43 years.
Clean Energy Job Growth Outpaces Overall Economy
Clean energy employment expanded by nearly 12 percent from 2021 to 2024—from 3.2 million to 3.6 million workers. The broader U.S. job market grew by only 8 percent during that period.
The solar workforce employed nearly 500,000 people across all 50 states in 2024, while wind energy employed an additional 131,000 workers.
Electric vehicle charging and grid modernization grew nearly 25 percent, solar grew just under 11 percent, and battery electric vehicles grew over 40 percent.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that solar, wind, geothermal, and battery storage manufacturing will each see double- or triple-digit percentage employment growth between 2024 and 2034.
Recent policy changes have slowed this momentum. Wind and solar investments in the first half of 2025 fell 18 percent to nearly $35 billion compared to the same period in 2024. Manufacturing investment dropped 26 percent year-over-year.
Youth Will Bear Long-Term Consequences
Generation Z children have experienced twice as many extremely hot days caused by climate change compared to millennial children and four times as many compared to Generation X children.
In Honolulu, climate change added 197 days of extreme heat for a Generation X child but 787 days for a Generation Z child—a fourfold increase.
A 2021 study in the medical journal Lancet found 59 percent of young people worldwide feel extremely worried about climate change. 45 percent reported it negatively affects their functioning and daily lives.
UNICEF estimates nearly one billion children face extremely high risks from climate change, representing almost half the world’s child population.
Despite bearing disproportionate impacts, young people remain largely excluded from climate policymaking.
Legal Challenges Expected
Environmental organizations and communities are preparing legal challenges that may reach the Supreme Court.
The fundamental question is whether short-term profits for fossil fuel interests justify exposing vulnerable populations to escalating health risks and leaving future generations to inherit a destabilized climate.
The scientific evidence on climate threats has only strengthened since 2009, while the International Court of Justice recently ruled that government actions driving climate change are illegal under international law.
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