Washington, D.C., July 29, 2025 – Today, leaders from across the United States condemned the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposal to rescind the 2009 Endangerment Finding. The move ignores decades of evidence and a Supreme Court ruling affirming that greenhouse gases are pollutants that cause higher rates of asthma, heart disease, respiratory illness, premature death, and climate change-fueled disasters like heatwaves, floods, wildfires, and hurricanes. The Endangerment Finding is the foundational scientific finding by the federal government that greenhouse gases threaten Americans’ public health and welfare, making it EPA’s duty to address them and giving the agency the power to regulate them. Today, the EPA also moved to repeal greenhouse gas emissions standards for vehicles, despite the fact the transportation sector is the largest emitter of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions according to EPA’s own scientists. 

Gina McCarthy, America Is All In Managing Co-Chair, 13th U.S. EPA Administrator, and first White House National Climate Advisor, released the following statement:

“Trump's EPA is trying every trick in the book to deny and avoid their mission to protect people and the environment from the ravages of unchecked climate pollution. Instead of doing their job, this EPA is putting the safety of our loved ones at risk while ratcheting up grid instability, energy bills, and disaster costs,” said Gina McCarthy, America Is All In Managing Co-Chair, 13th U.S. EPA Administrator, and first White House National Climate Advisor.

“This is just the latest in a long line of reckless actions from the Trump EPA that endangers the health and safety of our communities, rejects established science, and exacerbates the climate crisis," said All In Co-Chair and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. "Here in Illinois, science and common sense guide our climate agenda. We take decisive action that grows our clean energy economy while protecting our communities from harmful pollution, lowering energy prices, and creating opportunity for all."

“Americans deserve the truth from their federal government about the climate crisis,” said U.S. Climate Alliance Co-Chairs California Governor Gavin Newsom and Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers. “No amount of burying research or firing scientists will change the facts: Greenhouse gas pollution causes climate change and endangers our health and welfare — period. From devastating floods to extreme heat to catastrophic wildfire, Americans are seeing the deadly impacts of climate change with their own eyes, and we won’t be deceived by the Trump administration’s reckless abandonment of science and the law.” California Governor Newsom is also Co-Chair of America Is All In. 

“Rolling back the Endangerment Finding would have profound consequences for our nation, undermining decades of progress in addressing climate change and public health protections,” said All In Co-Chair and Cleveland Mayor Justin M. Bibb. “This decision jeopardizes and endangers the well-being of communities across the country, especially those already burdened by pollution, climate-related risks, and the challenges faced by historically underserved populations. In Cleveland, we remain committed to bold climate action, guided by science and driven by our vision for a healthier, more resilient future for all.”

Joint statement from Climate Mayors leadership, Chair Mayor Kate Gallego (Phoenix, AZ), Vice-Chair Mayor Lauren McLean (Boise, ID), and Vice-Chair Mayor Andre Dickens (Atlanta, GA): “Today’s actions by the Trump Administration fail to protect Americans’ health and wellbeing—the most basic responsibility of government. Undermining EPA’s ability to protect people from pollutants is a rejection of science and common sense. The regulations that the Administration is undermining have resulted in better air quality in communities across the country and are central to America’s ability to prevent the worst impacts of climate change.

This retreat from science-based standards will result in increasingly intense summer heat, unpredictable rainfall patterns resulting in floods and drought, and economic harm and health impacts to American families. Mayors will not back down from our mission to safeguard our residents’ health and build better, safer, and more affordable cities.”

“The Trump administration is abandoning its basic responsibility to keep us safe and healthy. By undermining EPA’s ability to regulate toxic, planet-warming greenhouse gases, they are denying that Americans are experiencing more frequent and deadlier extreme weather events,” said Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway of Madison, WI. “The fact of the matter is climate change is real, and it has affected communities nationwide. As mayor, I will continue to do my part to purse climate-forward solutions that keep people safe. The federal government must do theirs.”

“We only have to look at story after story of deadly floods, fires, and heat to see the havoc extreme weather events are wreaking on people’s health and well-being across our country,” said Dr. John Balbus, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Climate Change and Health Equity at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “And the best science shows us again and again that climate change is making extreme weather more dangerous and more frequent.  This government is putting people’s lives at risk by running away from the facts: climate change is a serious threat to our health, and protecting people means using all the tools in our toolbox to fight against it.”

Rabbi Jennie Rosenn, Founder and CEO, Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action and All In Leaders Circle member said: “The Endangerment Finding is the foundation that establishes the scientific truth that greenhouse gas emissions released by fossil fuels cause harm. It’s the bedrock upon which the EPA can fulfill its mission: ‘to protect human health and the environment.’ Repealing the Finding is like tossing out the Ten Commandments. They are not only denying something that's fundamentally true about the world, but have eliminated what enables our government to live and act in alignment with our core values.”

“As educators, our responsibility is to help students thrive — both in the classroom and in the world they’re growing up in,” said Dr. Brenda Cassellius, Superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools. “Our students are already feeling the impacts of climate change, from increased asthma rates to extreme heat. Rolling back the Endangerment Finding puts important progress at risk. We need federal leadership that follows the science, protects children’s health, supports safe and sustainable schools, and ensures a livable future for all young people and all of us too.”

"Climate science is essential to protecting our communities from rising asthma rates, deadly heatwaves, devastating wildfires, and increasingly violent storms,” said PennFuture President & CEO Patrick McDonnell. “Ignoring the Supreme Court's ruling and overwhelming evidence won't stop climate change; instead, it will worsen the damage, leading to deadly consequences."

“Repealing the 2009 endangerment finding would put the health and futures of America’s children at risk. Our nation’s K-12 schools are on the front lines of climate change, and we have a responsibility to protect students from the dangers of air pollution and a warming planet,” said Jonathan Klein, Co-Founder and CEO of UndauntedK12. “Weakening these critical protections would undermine decades of progress in public health, deepen existing inequities, and jeopardize our ability to prepare students for a sustainable, resilient future. Now is the time to strengthen—not roll back—our commitment to safeguarding the well-being of every child and community across the country.”

Second Nature released this statement: “It is critical for the government to rely on established science when making policy determinations, such as how to respond to the harms caused by various forms of pollution. The evidence that informs our approach to that and other vital issues affecting our world is furnished by scientists and knowledge experts in higher education institutions. The science produced by researchers at colleges and universities across the country has clearly and repeatedly demonstrated that pollution endangers public health.

The sources of the pollution that contaminates our air and water are also not in doubt and have been well-known for decades. We strongly oppose any efforts to undermine these truths, such as the current administration's retraction of the long-accepted and evidence-based Endangerment Finding. This failure to safeguard the integrity of scientific findings threatens the health and safety of all human beings and the future sustainability of our planet.”

Since its adoption, the endangerment finding has empowered the EPA to drive significant public health and environmental progress across the country, lowering asthma rates, spurring investments in clean energy jobs, and delivering cleaner air for communities. Repealing the endangerment finding would not only ignore scientific consensus and established legal precedent, but harm vulnerable communities, destabilize our growing clean energy economy, and serve only polluters – not the American people. Governors, mayors, business leaders, and healthcare providers across the country will face greater obstacles to protecting the health and wellbeing of their citizens and employees – but they remain committed to delivering that protection.

America Is All In brings together leaders from cities, states, businesses, and healthcare who know firsthand the benefits of science-based climate action. All In will continue to support coalition members as they invest in clean energy and take bold climate action that preserve the health and wellbeing of all Americans.

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Editor’s Note:

The Endangerment Finding is a formal determination made by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2009 under Section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act. It states that current and projected concentrations of six major greenhouse gases—carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆)—pose a threat to public health and welfare for current and future generations.

This finding was issued after the Supreme Court’s decision in Massachusetts v. EPA (2007), which held that greenhouse gases are "air pollutants" under the Clean Air Act and that the EPA must determine if they endanger public health and welfare or provide a reasonable explanation for not doing so.

The Endangerment Finding provides the legal basis for the EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from major sources like power plants, transportation, and oil and gas operations, under the Clean Air Act.

The finding is based on overwhelming scientific evidence demonstrating the role of greenhouse gas pollution in driving climate change and its dangers to public health, including increased extreme weather, health risks, and economic costs. And the Endangerment Finding has been repeatedly upheld by federal courts and continues to underpin U.S. climate policy.

Image credit: milehightraveler

About America Is All In
America Is All In is the most expansive coalition of leaders ever assembled in support of climate action in the United States. Mobilizing thousands of U.S. cities, states, tribal nations, businesses, schools, and faith, health, and cultural institutions, the coalition is focused on developing and delivering an ambitious, all-in national climate strategy that meets the urgency of the climate crisis; scaling climate action around the country to accelerate the transition to a 100 percent clean energy economy; and promoting the leadership of non-federal actors on the world stage. America Is All In champions a whole-of-society mobilization to deliver the transformational change that science demands, with the goal of a healthy, prosperous, equitable, and sustainable future. To learn more or get involved, visit www.americaisallin.com and follow us on X, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Bluesky. 

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