Donald Trump and his Science Denying-Project 2025- Back to the Gilded Age entourage in the Executive Branch are doing their best to turn back the clock to a time when oil and coal were the only major sources of energy production.
Since returning to power, these people who regard climate change as a hoax have moved to postpone or cancel any clean energy projects, especially solar and wind, even though these sustainability initiatives have created well-paying blue- and green-collar jobs in Red and Blue States.
Trump and his anti-reality band took another step to make the world a dirtier, unhealthier, and less safe place by formally repealing the Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A.) The endangerment Finding Rule has been in place since 2009.
According to reporting by the New York Times:
"For nearly 17 years, the E.P.A. had relied on the bedrock finding to justify regulations that limit carbon dioxide, methane and other pollution from oil and gas wells, tailpipes, smokestacks and other sources that burn fossil fuels. The repeal of the endangerment finding is expected to increase the country’s greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent over the next 30 years," according to the Environmental Defense Fund, an advocacy group.
The added pollution could lead to as many as 58,000 premature deaths and an increase of 37 million asthma attacks between now and 2055, the group said."
Kate Wright, the Executive Director of Climate Mayors, released a statement, condemning the move, writing:
“Today’s decision by the Trump administration to weaken the EPA puts the American people at risk. As the Climate Mayors Chair, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, Vice Chair Boise Mayor Lauren McLean, and Vice Chair and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, stated in July 2025, this rollback is a failure of the government’s duty to protect our people.
As the leaders closest to their communities, mayors have seen firsthand the havoc climate change can wreak in their cities, including extreme heat, floods, damage to infrastructure and agriculture, and increased medical costs from inhaling polluted air. More than 50 U.S. cities made clear in their public submissions on this ruling that rescinding these crucial, science-based standards will endanger public health and ignore the lived realities of cities across the country.
At a time when families continue to bear the burden of climate inaction in their daily expenses, this ruling endangers Americans and moves us further from the leadership we need. While our federal government continues to fail in its basic responsibilities, cities will not stop protecting the health and safety of their residents.”
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, who up until recently was the Chairperson of Climate Mayors, issued a statement to Blog for Arizona:
“This federal regulatory change will have real impacts on air quality, public health, and our economy. Because the greater Phoenix area is home to many clean-tech companies working in solar and electric vehicles, it will have an outsized impact on us. It will also make it harder to reduce the brown smog in our community. Phoenix will continue to do our part to reduce emissions, improve air quality, and drive investments in clean and innovative technologies.”
“For more than a decade, this has been the basis for vehicle emissions standards for cars and trucks of all sizes, and it’s been an important force for cleaning up emissions from power plants. It’s the foundation for our federal government to do anything to reduce our country’s greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. When companies know the government is serious about cutting emissions, they invest in innovation– better vehicles, cleaner fuels, more efficient design. That kind of policy certainty drives progress.”
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, an officeholder who has participated in numerous successful lawsuits against the Trump regime's overreach, also issued a statement, saying:
"The EPA’s decision to rescind the Endangerment Finding is unlawful, reckless, and flatly at odds with decades of settled law and science. By rescinding the Endangerment Finding, the EPA is reviving an argument the Supreme Court has already rejected and ignoring overwhelming scientific evidence. This rule abandons the agency’s fundamental responsibility to protect Americans from real and worsening environmental harm—all while putting industry profits ahead of Arizonans' health.”
It is probably wise to expect more action from Ms. Mayes and other state Attorneys General in the near future.
Arizona Democratic Senate Leader Priya Sundareshan, a legislator who has spoken often about the need to promote greater sustainability measures on water and the environment, commented to Blog For Arizona:
"Trump’s action to repeal the Endangerment Finding is yet another egregious example of the anti-science, anti-fact approach he and his Republican lackeys take towards governing, just as their anti-science approach has brought back measles outbreaks in the United States.
The Endangerment Finding for greenhouse gases is the basis for allowing the federal government to take steps to prevent and mitigate climate change under the Clean Air Act. It is clear that our winters have warmed significantly, disrupting our ecology and hydrology and threatening our health and safety. Hotter, drier summers mean people face significant health impacts from extreme heat and threaten the water supply on which the entire western United States relies. These dangerous anti-science actions by Republicans place Americans in danger."
Remember, readers and voters, there is no Planet B.
