$1.3 trillion savings: The impact of Trump dumping Obama’s ‘Endangerment Finding’

Energy powers life. Affordable and reliable energy powers prosperity. That’s not just a slogan. It is a truth that shows up in the price of a new car, the size of a utility bill, and the cost of filling up your tank. But, for too long, a costly and unscientific climate ideology has skewed our energy policies.

Since the Obama EPA’s 2009 Endangerment Finding was issued, this ideology-over-science mindset has driven up costs and pushed American families ever closer to energy poverty. Recently, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin pushed back by repealing the infamous ruling—a move that will slash regulatory costs and cut new-car prices. The result will be more opportunities for energy producers and manufacturers — and rising prosperity for American consumers.

Few regulatory actions have stifled American prosperity more than the 2009 Endangerment Finding. Early in Barack Obama’s first term, regulators determined that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases could “reasonably be anticipated to endanger” public health. With that decision, they claimed the authority to manage the energy we need to power every sector of the American economy. The Endangerment Finding offered unelected bureaucrats at the EPA the legal trigger to implement sweeping federal mandates on cars, trucks, power plants, food, and energy producers nationwide — all without a single vote from Congress.

The Endangerment Finding empowered regulators to impose expansive mandates across the economy, while Democratic administrations used claims such as “the science is settled” as a cudgel to demand compliance. What began as a contested decision by then-EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson became a governing premise that was weaponized against affordable energy and the American public. Congress stepped aside, abandoning its role, and the agencies happily took over.

The basis for an ever-increasing stream of regulation was established, and the result was predictable: unelected bureaucrats reshaped the economy with a torrent of fuel-economy mandates, power-plant regulations, and other restrictions while American families paid the price. Intended to force automakers to build more electric vehicles, these mandates added thousands of dollars to the price of new, increasingly unreliable cars.

Just as President Obama had planned, electricity rates soared as climate mandates forced utilities to shutter reliable generation options and invest billions in weather-dependent wind and solar. Across America, jobs disappeared, and so-called green mandates cut the heart out of entire communities. In the largely Navajo town of Kirtland, New Mexico, EPA regulations contributed to the closure of the San Juan Generating Station, a major employer in the town. As families moved away, unemployment skyrocketed, schools were forced to close, and businesses struggled. “They’ve taken the rug out from underneath our feet,” said one resident.

Meanwhile, our strategic competitors understood what Washington regulators clearly did not: energy is a strategic asset, and nations that restrict themselves squander it. So, while the EPA imposed severe new restrictions on American producers, China moved to ensure its supply of reliable and affordable power. In 2023 alone, China approved or began construction on more than 100 gigawatts of new coal-fired power capacity and added as much as 47 gigawatts to its grid. That’s more coal power in a single year than many nations possess in total and a bit more than half of the total operating coal fleet in the U.S. Today, China operates more than 1,100 gigawatts of coal capacity, more than half of what the entire world burns.

So, why does the Trump administration’s decision to repeal the Endangerment Finding matter for you? Repealing it will eliminate $1.3 trillion in regulatory costs and reduce the price of a new vehicle by more than $2,400. American families hit hard by lingering inflation from Biden-era policies need (and deserve) savings.

But repealing the Endangerment Finding is about more than just car prices. With electricity bills still reeling from Biden administration energy policies, it’s about whether a single mother can afford to drive to work or whether a young couple can start a business or buy the home they’ve dreamed of. Cheap, reliable energy makes the difference between taking a promising new job across town and being forced to stay home because the gas tank is empty.

Repealing the Endangerment Finding ends 17 years of regulatory overreach and returns energy policy decisions to where they belong: elected lawmakers. Affordable and reliable energy powers prosperity, and only the people’s representatives should write the laws that govern it.

 

Jason Hayes is the director of Energy and Environment at the America First Policy Institute.