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https://theconversation.com/trump-has-scrapped-the-long-standing-legal-basis-for-tackling-climate-emissions-275921>
"Regulating climate emissions just became more difficult. US President Donald
Trump announced on Thursday the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has
repealed its own 2009 legal finding that greenhouse gas emissions endanger
human health.
Vindicated by a Supreme Court ruling in 2007, and based on scientific evidence,
this so-called endangerment finding by the EPA provided the legal warrant for
the regulation of greenhouse gases by the federal government. It underpinned
the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan, which regulated emissions from
power plants. In his first term, Trump had tried to weaken it but a new version
was introduced by the Biden administration.
Without the endangerment finding, and in the absence of new laws passed by both
Houses of Congress, the federal government lacks the legal mandate for direct
regulation of greenhouse emissions. The science hasn’t changed, but the
obligation to act on it has been scrubbed out.
If you imagine the United States as a collection of big greenhouse gas pots
with lids, the Trump administration has been lifting the lids off one by one,
releasing more emissions by stepping up fossil fuel extraction, production and
consumption. This legal finding held down the biggest lid on climate emissions
— and Trump has pulled it right off. This will have a structural effect
globally."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
