Lee Zeldin, Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has called on the Trump Administration in private recommendations that the White House re-write the so-called endangerment finding, the foundation for U.S. climate rules, sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg on Wednesday.

The endangerment finding from 2009 is the U.S. federal government’s formal conclusion that greenhouse gases harm the public and cause climate change. This finding has acted as the legal foundation for many U.S. laws and regulations aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

Now Trump’s EPA Administrator Zeldin is reportedly recommending re-writing of this endangerment finding, which would unwind many federal climate regulations.

The Trump Administration has already started undoing some of Biden’s climate regulations and President Donald Trump is looking to defund incentives for renewable energy and scrapping electric vehicle mandates.

The new head of the Environmental Protection Agency has declared the EPA will pursue the entities that received billions in dollars in the final weeks of the Biden administration’s term to secure continued finance for the energy transition.

Commenting on the reports that EPA now targets the endangerment finding, Marc Morano, who runs the climate-skeptic website ClimateDepot.com, told Bloomberg,

“If you want to permanently cripple the United States climate agenda you have to go at the heart of it. This is the heart of it: the endangerment finding.”

Reports that EPA may have the endangerment finding in its crosshairs caused immediate reaction from environmental campaigners.

“Any action by the Trump administration to reverse the Endangerment Finding would trample science, be contrary to law, and worsen the harms that are already being felt by Americans in communities across the country,” said Vickie Patton, General Counsel at the Environmental Defense Fund.

“Such an effort would be reckless, unlawful, and ignore EPA’s fundamental responsibility to protect Americans from destructive climate pollution. We will vigorously oppose it.”

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com

• Drilling Suspensions Could Limit Brazil’s Oil Output Growth
• Natural Gas Prices Surge As Arctic Blast Fuels Demand
• Oil Traders Shrink Exposure as Bullishness Wanes