Trump Wants You to Believe Climate Change Isn’t Dangerous

 

Trump Wants You to Believe Climate Change Isn’t Dangerous

In mid-February 2026, the Trump administration took its most aggressive step yet to dismantle federal climate policy by formally revoking the 2009 Endangerment Finding. This landmark scientific determination, which legally classified greenhouse gases as a threat to public health and welfare, has served as the foundation for nearly all U.S. climate regulations for over a decade.

 

Key Actions and Rhetoric

"A Giant Scam": During a White House event, President Trump repeatedly described the link between climate change and public health as a "scam" and a "con job".

EPA Rollbacks: Under EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, the administration finalized the repeal of the endangerment finding, a move Zeldin called "the largest deregulatory action in U.S. history".

Challenging Science: The administration commissioned a Department of Energy (DoE) report—widely criticized by independent scientists for "cherry-picking" data—to argue that warming might be less damaging than believed and that aggressive mitigation could be more harmful than the climate change itself.

 

Scientific and Legal Consensus

Public Health Risks: Scientists and major medical groups, including the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, maintain that the link between rising emissions and negative health outcomes is "beyond scientific dispute".

Documented Harms: Research cited by the Associated Press confirms that climate change is already causing thousands of deaths annually through extreme heat, intensifying disasters, and the spread of disease.

 

Legal Consequences: By revoking the finding, the administration aims to strip the EPA of its authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate tailpipe emissions and power plant pollutants.

 

Wider Policy Shift

This move is part of a broader "America First" energy strategy, which has included withdrawing from the Paris Agreement and directing the Pentagon to increase coal-fired electricity purchases. Environmental groups, such as the NRDC, have already filed lawsuits to challenge the repeal in court.