After Tuesday’s announcement that the Trump administration intends to repeal the endangerment finding, which is foundational to the federal government’s ability to enforce limits on greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles, Charles Rothenberger, Save the Sound’s in-house climate and energy attorney and director of Connecticut Government Relations, responded to this setback.
“The endangerment finding is a scientific finding, and the science is clear: there is overwhelming evidence that greenhouse gas emissions pose a serious danger to human health and to the health of our communities, the evidence of which we see daily. The administration has a steep hill to climb to rebut established and accepted science,” said Rothenberger.
“Tuesday’s announcement is not about the science, which is undebatable. This is a policy argument around electric vehicles. It is clear that there is a market for them—nationally, one out of every 10 cars sold is an electric vehicle. Automakers will continue to respond to that consumer demand, and they will continue to invest in electric vehicles. This may slow down our clean transportation transition, but it is not going to slam the brakes on it.”
“The real danger in today’s announcement is to EPA’s fundamental role in protecting people and communities from the adverse health impacts of pollution. Reversing the endangerment finding to serve the policy priorities of the administration will cripple the EPA’s ability to address the most pressing environmental issue of our time.”