Arizonans are speaking out after the Trump administration announced it would rescind the endangerment finding, the key scientific basis that allows the Environmental Protection Agency to put limits on carbon pollution.
The Trump administration says the elimination of the endangerment finding will reduce regulations and lower energy costs.
“This decisive action dismantles the flawed 2009 determination that Democrats weaponized to justify over $1.3 trillion in burdensome regulations on American families, businesses, and consumers,” a White House press release said.
But environmental groups say the move will worsen air pollution and accelerate climate change.
"Eliminating EPA’s requirement to protect people from the pollution that causes climate change is not supported by science or by common sense and is immoral as it will result in more harm to our health and our communities," said Sandy Bahr, director of the Sierra Club's Grand Canyon Chapter.
Kirsten Engel, chief of the Arizona Attorney General’s Office Environmental Protection Unit, said repealing climate change regulations will be especially harmful in Arizona.
“The best available science tells us that Arizona’s hotter and drier conditions are being driven by climate change,” Engel said during a Friday press conference.
Arizona hottest two years are on record were 2024 and 2025. And Engel noted extreme heat contributes to hundreds of deaths per year in the state.
Engel said the Attorney General’s Office is considering legal options in response to the Trump administration’s rescission of the endangerment finding.
“The EPA’s decision to rescind the Endangerment Finding is unlawful, reckless, and flatly at odds with decades of settled law and science," Engel said. “This rule abandons the [EPA’s] fundamental responsibility to protect Americans from real and worsening environmental harm."
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