Key Takeaways:
- Historic Rollback: EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is rescinding the Obama-era “endangerment finding,” ending the rule that allowed federal regulators to label carbon dioxide a pollutant.
- Economic Relief: Zeldin says the move could save Americans over $1 trillion, create jobs, and make cars and energy more affordable again.
- Refocusing Priorities: The repeal ends a cornerstone of the Left’s climate agenda, allowing the EPA to focus on true environmental stewardship without bankrupting U.S. industry.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin just fired a major shot across the bow of the Left’s climate agenda. On the Ruthless podcast Tuesday, Zeldin announced he will rescind the Obama administration’s “endangerment finding”—a move he called “the largest deregulatory action in the history of America.”
The endangerment finding, enacted during the Obama years, gave bureaucrats sweeping power to label carbon dioxide and methane as “pollutants” and regulate everything from cars and airplanes to factories. Zeldin says that authority was abused. “Democrats created the endangerment finding, which allowed them to… ‘basically regulate out of existence’ many segments of the American economy,” he said.
“This has been referred to as basically driving a dagger into the heart of the climate change religion,” Zeldin added. “Most Americans… want clean air, land and water. Conservatives love the environment. But in the name of climate change, [the Left] is willing to bankrupt the country.”
Zeldin estimates that repealing the rule could save Americans more than $1 trillion, create jobs, and make cars more affordable again. “It’s one agency, in one year, doing more deregulation than the entire federal government across entire presidencies,” Zeldin said.
Critics have long argued the endangerment finding was the hub of the Left’s climate-industrial complex, funneling billions into crony “green” projects while kneecapping U.S. industry. By rolling it back, Zeldin says the EPA will focus on real environmental stewardship—without crushing American competitiveness.
“This is a true game-changer,” said Ruthless co-host Comfortably Smug. “It’s projected to save Americans over $1 trillion.”