Megan Wittman, megan.wittman@sierraclub.org
WISCONSIN – Today, Donald Trump’s administration proposed to repeal the Endangerment Finding for power plants – a move that would permanently strip the Environmental Protection Agency of its authority to limit greenhouse gas emissions from coal and gas power plants under the Clean Air Act. This action would strip EPA of one of its most powerful tools for combating climate change. Combined with the administration’s February repeal of the Endangerment Finding for motor vehicles, today’s proposal is part of a sweeping effort to dismantle the legal foundation for federal climate regulation, leaving the EPA legally unable to act on the two largest sources of carbon pollution in the country.
This announcement comes as Wisconsin faces a number of new gas plants as Big Tech continues to propose more hyperscale AI data centers across the state.
“This is yet another move in a long line of efforts by the Trump Administration to cozy up to coal and the fossil fuel industries at the expense of Wisconsinites and folks across the country,” said Elizabeth Ward, Sierra Club Wisconsin Chapter Director. “Stripping away essential health and safety protections is the last thing our communities need right now. As Trump cuts yet another corner, we’re the ones paying for it with more asthma attacks and hospitalizations, higher energy bills, and an even worse quality of life. We’re all struggling under Trump’s economy right now. The only ones benefiting from slashing these standards are the coal and fossil fuel industry executives.”
The proposal is another one of Donald Trump’s attempts to bolster the profits of a struggling coal industry and deliver directly on the promises EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin made to the corporate executives at a National Coal Council meeting in July, where he vowed to fulfill the industry’s “wish list.” The administration has already given more than $700 million in taxpayer dollars to the coal industry, including the Columbia Energy Center, despite the immense public and environmental harms associated with burning coal for electricity, and the well-documented evidence that clean energy is now cheaper, cleaner, and more reliable than fossil fuels.
The handouts and regulatory giveaways come as renewable energy continues to outperform coal in the marketplace. In May, solar energy generated more electricity than coal across the entire country. From Oconto County to Juneau County, Wisconsin is saying yes to a brighter future with solar energy and battery storage. The coal industry cannot compete with solar—it’s being kept on life support by taxpayer subsidies and regulatory handouts, while ordinary families pay the price in higher electricity bills, dirtier air, and more extreme weather fueled by carbon pollution.
“While wildfires rage, floods devastate communities, and families struggle to afford skyrocketing electricity bills and insurance premiums, the Trump administration is handing the fossil fuel industry a license to keep polluting,” said Sierra Club Chief Program Officer Holly Bender. “This is full-throated climate denial while the climate crisis happens in real time and a shocking betrayal of the American public. The Sierra Club will fight back against this reckless and dangerous proposal with everything we have in the courts, in Congress, and in communities across the country.”
Background
The Endangerment Finding is a 2009 scientific determination by the EPA that greenhouse gasses pose a significant threat to public health and the environment. It is the legal cornerstone of the EPA’s authority to regulate climate pollution under the Clean Air Act – the foundation upon which vehicle standards, power plant rules, and other climate protections have all been built. The nonpartisan National Academies of Sciences confirmed last year that the finding “was accurate, has stood the test of time, and is now reinforced by even stronger evidence.”
The Sierra Club helped bring the landmark Massachusetts v. EPA Supreme Court case that established EPA’s obligation to regulate greenhouse gas pollution under the Clean Air Act.
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About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.