Trump Administration Rolls Back EPA Climate Authority, Phil Weiser Vows Yet Another Lawsuit

By Michael Booth | The Colorado Sun

he Trump EPA’s Thursday repeal of an Obama-era “endangerment finding” that allowed federal regulation of greenhouse gases from vehicles and other sources will set back Colorado air pollution efforts, but progressive environmental groups and supportive state officials vowed to “play the long game” to restore key controls. 

Repealing the EPA’s right to set greenhouse gas controls was a long-stated target of GOP politicians and conservative business groups, who find the regulations excessive and question the practicality of slowing global warming. The immediate impact of negating the 2009 endangerment finding will be a further unleashing of car and truck manufacturers to sell more gas-guzzling and high-emitting vehicles, Colorado leaders said, reversing years of progress in transforming the state’s fleet to clean engines.

 

In a broader sense, Colorado environmental groups said, the announcement was a long-expected national surrender on greenhouse gas and climate change issues they’ve worked on for decades. 

“While the Trump administration moves to repeal the legal foundation of federal climate regulation, the reality of climate change is impossible to ignore,” said Erin Overturf, clean energy director at Western Resource Advocates. “In Colorado we are experiencing an unnervingly warm winter and record low snowpack, further exacerbating drought and wildfire risks. In the face of federal abdication, state action has never been more important. We will continue to ensure Colorado’s leaders drive policies to reduce emissions and adapt to our new challenges — we can’t leave our communities laid bare to the forces of climate change.”

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