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EPA Repeal of Greenhouse Gas 'Endangerment' for Vehicles Sets Up High-Stakes Court Fight

The coming D.C. Circuit review could shape whether the agency retains authority to curb climate pollution.

The Mill Creek Generating Station, a coal-fired power plant, hovers over a Louisville neighborhood on February 14, 2026.
President Donald Trump arrives to announce the Environmental Protection Agency will no longer regulate greenhouse gases, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Washington.
An airplane prepares to land at the LAX airport over traffic on the 405 Freeway on February 13, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. Under Trump, the EPA has repealed a rule that links vehicle emissions and other greenhouse gases to human health risks.
Mill Creek Generating Station, a coal-fired power plant in Louisville, Kentucky, pictured this year from across the river in Indiana. The government's continued ability to regulate emissions from power plants will depend on what happens in the courts over the next few years.

Overview

  • The Trump administration finalized rescission of the 2009 Endangerment Finding as it applies to motor vehicles, immediately nullifying federal vehicle greenhouse-gas standards.
  • More than a dozen environmental and public-health groups sued last week in the D.C. Circuit to block the rollback, with outcomes that could ultimately reach the Supreme Court.
  • EPA’s repeal relies on arguments that the Clean Air Act does not extend to global pollution and that emissions from specific vehicle categories do not individually meet an endangerment threshold.
  • Legal experts say the agency aims to narrow the reach of Massachusetts v. EPA without directly seeking to overturn it, setting up a multi-year legal path with uncertain results.
  • Supporters frame the move as a major deregulation following an extensive public comment record, while opponents warn of increased pollution and cite EDF projections of substantial health harms by midcentury.