The White House said President Donald Trump plans to formally overturn a key Obama-era climate finding this week, a move that would dismantle the legal foundation for federal vehicle emissions rules and mark one of the most sweeping regulatory rollbacks of his administration.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump will appear alongside Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin on Thursday to rescind the 2009 determination that carbon dioxide poses a threat to public health. That finding has long served as the basis for regulating greenhouse gas emissions from cars, trucks and other sources.
Leavitt described the action as the largest deregulatory step in U.S. history and said it would lower costs for automakers by about $2,400 per vehicle. The administration first proposed the repeal last July as part of a broader effort to scale back climate rules, boost fossil fuel development and slow the transition to clean energy.
An EPA spokesperson said previous Democratic administrations relied on the finding to justify trillions of dollars in greenhouse gas regulations, particularly in the transportation sector.
The move would effectively undo vehicle emissions standards finalized under former President Joe Biden in 2024, which aimed to cut fleetwide tailpipe emissions nearly in half by 2032. Those rules assumed a sharp rise in electric vehicle adoption and projected billions in long-term savings for drivers through lower fuel and maintenance costs.
Major automakers had pushed back on the Biden standards, calling them overly aggressive, though industry groups said some form of revised emissions rules could still be necessary to provide regulatory certainty.
If finalized, the repeal would eliminate federal requirements for automakers to measure, report and comply with greenhouse gas standards for cars and trucks, significantly reshaping U.S. climate and transportation policy.
Related Readings:
