Public health and the livelihoods of future generations are at risk due to the latest cuts by the Trump administration
By THE EDITORIAL BOARD — opinion@theaggie.org
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has undergone some of its most drastic changes since the Trump administration took office in January 2025, marked by major deregulation efforts, immense staff reductions and the removal of crucial climate policies and standards.
On Feb. 12, the EPA announced its largest deregulation in the agency’s history: rescinding the foundational 2009 Endangerment Finding, which found that six major greenhouse gases are harmful to public health and welfare and were therefore able to be regulated under the Clean Air Act.
The consequences of this decision are severe; regulations on greenhouse gases are no longer established and supported by the federal government. In removing the Endangerment Finding, the agency eliminates the legal basis for federal greenhouse gas standards and withdraws formal government recognition that these emissions endanger public health and future generations.
With the removal of the Endangerment Finding, the EPA also terminated federal greenhouse gas regulations for new vehicles, repealing emission limits set for 2012-2027 model-year cars and trucks. Automakers are no longer required to meet carbon dioxide emission limits under the Clean Air Act. Since transportation and car pollutants are the largest source of greenhouse gases in the United States, eliminating these standards could significantly increase emissions nationally and slow climate change mitigation.
Removing federal limits on carbon pollution from cars does not help the automotive industry; instead, it harms long-term environmental progress and stability. It gives permission to leading greenhouse gas producers to pollute even more, despite scientists’ warnings that emissions must be reduced further to prevent worsening climate disasters.
Continuing its regulatory rollbacks, the Trump administration announced on Feb. 20 that it would reduce restrictions on toxic emissions from coal-powered power plants, including limits on mercury — its most recent effort to delegitimize clean air and support the fossil fuel industry.
“EPA’s actions today right the wrongs of the last administration’s rule and will return the industry to [the] highly effective original [Mercury and Air Toxics Standards] that helped pave the way for American energy dominance,” EPA Deputy Administrator David Fotouhi said.
Coal-powered power plants are among the leading producers of mercury and other toxic air pollutants in the atmosphere, according to the EPA. These pollutants are detrimental to public health, as they settle into water and soil, contaminating the food chain and causing severe neurological damage, heart disease, impaired immune function and developmental issues in younger generations.
Regulations on coal-powered power plants have saved lives since their implementation: 26,610 lives were saved in the U.S. between 2005 and 2016 due to the shift away from coal for electricity, according to a University of California study. Without these protections, public health is put at risk for nothing more than short-term profits. The federal government’s recent actions signal that environmental protections and human health are no longer priorities. By furthering reliance on finite fossil fuels, the Trump administration and EPA are undermining and reversing years of progress toward more sustainable energy sources.
The administration also announced on Jan. 13 that it would no longer consider the economic cost of harm to human health — including those related to fine particles and ozone — into regulatory decisions. The EPA cited “too much uncertainty” and an aim to avoid a “false sense of precision” as the justification for this drastic change. Previously, the agency’s projections of these health impacts and cost values have accurately estimated more than 230,000 lives saved and billions of dollars in health benefit costs.
All of these actions over the past month mark a fundamental change in the EPA’s focus and purpose. The agency was originally created in 1970 to establish environmental laws and safeguards for the environment and human health. Today, it has backtracked all of the progress toward lasting climate action, effectively utilized as a tool by the Trump administration to reduce regulations on the very industries it was meant to fight.
This is no longer a policy change — it is a risk to human health and the future of our planet. The administration’s actions have established that health is not a priority, but rather a negotiable policy. This marks a turning point for environmental protection, with one of the world’s leading greenhouse gas producers turning away from direct action against climate change. The resulting consequences will only worsen, with extreme weather, medical crises and instability for future generations on the rise.
Written by: The Editorial Board — opinion@theaggie.org
