USEPA, now a voice for climate denialism, Pg13

Key Highlights:

• The USEPA has rolled back the Obama-era Endangerment Finding, a rule that required the agency to consider the harm caused by GHGs.
• The Trump administration has withdrawn key subsidies for electric vehicles and renewables.
• The USEPA's head stated that automakers will not be pressured to shift their fleet composition towards EVs.
• The rollback potentially clears the way for the EPA to repeal limits on GHGs from power plants and oil and gas wells.
• Renewable energy use is at an all-time high globally, despite waning enthusiasm around net-zero targets in parts of the developed world.

Detailed Insights:

• The Endangerment Finding previously mandated the USEPA to use scientific knowledge regarding the environmental and public health impacts of GHGs.
• The Trump administration formed a panel of scientists challenging the widely accepted science on the impacts of GHGs.
• Transport is the largest source of GHG emissions in the US, and the transition to EVs is not happening quickly enough to offset emissions from fossil fuels.
• The USEPA's decision contradicts global efforts to mitigate global warming, even as renewable energy use reaches record levels.
• Declining enthusiasm for net-zero targets is partly due to misinformation and a failure to communicate the economic benefits and fairness of sustainability.

Key Concepts Involved:

• GHGs (Greenhouse Gases): Gases that trap heat in the atmosphere and contribute to global warming.

GHGs

• Endangerment Finding: A legal finding that air pollutants, such as greenhouse gases, endanger public health and welfare.
• Net-Zero Targets: Goals to achieve an overall balance between emissions produced and emissions taken out of the atmosphere.