Trump, Zeldin Roll Back Obama-Era Climate Change Rule
Environmental attorney Matt Leopold was cited in a New York Post article analyzing the consequences of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) decision to repeal a 2009 endangerment finding used to authorize fossil fuel rules and other regulations under the Clean Air Act (CAA). In the endangerment finding, the EPA determined that six greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane, threaten public health through climate change and that emissions of these gases from cars and trucks contribute to air pollution. The determination underpinned numerous environmental regulations, from fuel emissions standards to a directive to ramp up production of electric and hybrid vehicles. With those rules now subject to repeal, professionals interviewed for the article predicted immediate legal challenges to prevent the rollback. Mr. Leopold, who co-chairs Holland & Knight's national Environmental Team and previously served as the U.S. Senate-confirmed general counsel for the EPA, talked about the implications of the move.
"The 2009 endangerment finding is the cornerstone of EPA's regulation over greenhouse gases, so removing it will have a very significant impact on multiple industries – first and foremost the auto and vehicle manufacturers," he explained. "They're returning to a historic understanding of the Clean Air Act and the types of pollutants that in their view the act was intended to regulate...What's being disputed is this novel use of the Clean Air Act to expand to greenhouse gases."