Trump’s EPA Put Our Health and Future on the Chopping Block: Repealing the Endangerment Finding July 29, 2025

Contact: Brian Campbell bcampbell@psr.org 

Today’s proposal to repeal the Endangerment Finding for greenhouse gases and rollback emissions standards for motor vehicles is antithetical to EPA’s mission and will seriously harm the health of Americans and people around the world if finalized. The Endangerment Finding is the bedrock for regulating carbon emissions that degrade our health and hasten the rate of climate change. We know greenhouse gases significantly contribute to climate change, which is already causing catastrophes across the nation. From devastating fires in California, flash flooding in Texas, hurricanes wreaking havoc on inland cities like Asheville, North Carolina, and 143 straight days of over 100-degree heat in Phoenix, it is abhorrent that the Trump Administration’s EPA would eliminate a cornerstone policy for protecting Americans from these threats.

Getting rid of the Endangerment Finding denies the basic facts about climate change and hands over the reins of EPA to the $8 trillion fossil fuel industry. If repealed, polluters will be able to spew as much greenhouse gases and other air pollutants as they desire to increase their already soaring profits at the expense of our health and the lives of our children and generations to come. Energy costs will increase, prices on everyday goods and services will soar, thousands of good-paying jobs will be eliminated, and the ensuing carbon pollution and decreased air quality will result in tens of thousands of lost work days every year. Health care expenses will skyrocket as more Americans begin to suffer from health conditions exacerbated by air pollution, such as asthma, heart and respiratory diseases, and low birth weight/premature birth. The burden of this rollback would fall heavily on our healthcare system and its already strained workforce. 

We continue to question the motivations of this EPA and why rollbacks for several rules are being initiated through a singular proposal. This attempt to convolute an already onerous process for public engagement is irresponsible and it is not happening by accident. 

Physicians for Social Responsibility outrightly rejects the repeal of the Endangerment Finding and other emissions standards. We affirm our commitment to fight the gravest threats to health and survival.

Quotes from PSR leaders

“Fossil fuel pollution directly harms human health through air pollution, hotter days, and extreme weather. This is not a theory. It is a fact based on thousands of scientific studies from around the world. The endangerment finding by the EPA was based on thoughtful and methodical review of the scientific evidence and its harms on Americans. The reckless proposal to revoke the endangerment finding will harm and kill Americans not only today but for decades to come. The EPA must abandon this foolish pursuit by the Trump administration. All American lives will depend on it.”

Ankush K Bansal, MD, FACP, FACPM, SFHM
President – Florida Physicians for Social Responsibility
President-Elect – Physicians for Social Responsibility
Clinical Associate Professor (Vol.) – Florida International University

“It is imperative to the nation’s public health for EPA to regulate climate change-causing air pollutants. Climate change is already increasing the range of infectious diseases like dengue, West Nile and Lyme disease, increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events like hurricanes and extreme-heatwaves, and devastating populations around the globe with decreasing water and food security. EPA’s industry-driven decision to repeal the Endangerment Finding is a rejection of scientific evidence and American voters’ support of regulating carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. This is the will of the few imposed on the many, to the detriment of all.”

Mark R. Vossler, MD
President – Physicians for Social Responsibility