On Thursday, the Trump administration moved against what has long been the central pillar of modern federal climate regulation: the 2009 Obama EPA “Endangerment Finding.”
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced he will eliminate the declaration that greenhouse gases “endanger the public health and welfare of current and future generations,” a judgment that set in motion most federal vehicle emissions standards.
The finding followed the Supreme Court’s ruling in Massachusetts v. EPA, which held that greenhouse gases qualify as air pollutants and may be regulated if deemed a threat to public health or welfare.
From that determination flowed a thicket of restrictions and standards, shaping mileage rules, emissions credits, and technologies like the now-familiar engine start-stop feature.
Zeldin framed the rescission as both economic relief and cultural correction. As he traveled the country, he said, Americans complained about the motor-vehicle start-stop system—an EPA-backed credit created in 2012—that many drivers found intrusive and ineffective.
“Not only do many people find start-stop annoying, but it kills the battery of your car without any significant benefit to the environment. The Trump EPA is proudly fixing this stupid feature at Trump Speed,” Zeldin said.
He argued automakers should not be compelled — or rewarded — for technologies that function as what he called a “climate participation trophy” without meaningful pollution reduction. Consumer choice, he said, and “commonsense rules” will guide the agency’s direction.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy cast the move as part of President Trump’s broader effort to lower costs and revive American manufacturing, including resetting mileage standards and removing regulations born of the 2009 declaration.
A source familiar with the decision said all federal greenhouse-gas emission standards for vehicles and engines that stemmed from that finding will be rescinded.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called it “the largest deregulatory action in American history,” estimating savings of $1.3 trillion in regulations.
It is not merely a policy change. It is an attempt to remove the cornerstone upon which much of the federal climate edifice has stood for more than a decade.
Watch the announcement below:
FULL SPEECH: President Trump Announces EPA Deregulations with Lee Zeldin – 02/12/26 pic.twitter.com/2xSrLrmQRM
— RSBN 🇺🇸 (@RSBNetwork) February 12, 2026
