The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed rescinding the 2009 Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding—a disturbing betrayal of its fundamental duty to protect the environment and uphold scientific truth. Make no mistake—this proposal is a catastrophic handout to polluters, sacrificing the planet and every being that depends on it.

It’s horrifying that this influence is from an Administration wedded to polluters. That’s why Friends of Animals is submitting written comments against the proposal and urging our members to do the same, as well as sign up to testify virtually at a hearing scheduled for Aug. 19-20. You can register to testify virtually at the hearing scheduled for by emailing EPA-MobileSource-Hearings@epa.gov. Each commenter will have 3 minutes to speak. You can submit written comments by Sept. 15, 2025, via Regulations.gov here.

This Obama-era legal determination is the foundation of all federal climate regulations under the Clean Air Act (CAA). EPA’s claim that rescinding the Endangerment Finding will save Americans $54 billion annually by eliminating greenhouse gas (GHGs) standards, including electric vehicle mandates, is deeply shortsighted.

Rescinding the Endangerment Finding would:

• Overturn virtually all climate regulation, eliminating the legal basis for controlling greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, power plants, and oil and gas operations—protections that have collectively cut billions of tons of emissions.
• Undermine states’ and citizens’ ability to hold polluters accountable, gutting legal safeguards for vulnerable animals, habitats, and communities, and stripping advocates of recourse in courts and federal agencies.
• Accelerate biodiversity collapse and degrade the natural systems sustaining wildlife, as habitat loss, shifting climate zones, ocean acidification, and extreme weather push species closer to extinction each year.

According to EPA itself, transportation is the largest single contributor to GHGs in the United States, accounting for 28% of emissions. Globally, transportation accounts for 13.7% of emissions, with 12.1% from roadways.

The EPA’s proposal ignores overwhelming scientific evidence, including that 2024 was the first year with average global temperatures above 1.5°C —the critical limit set by the Paris Agreement to curb climate risks.It also ignores a March 2025 report by the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology and the University of Zurich, which confirms climate change as one of the top five human-driven causes of global biodiversity loss across all organisms and ecosystems.

Not to mention, an estimated one million species now face extinction, according to the most comprehensive global assessments. Meanwhile, over 85% of Earth’s wetlands and mangrove forests—vital carbon sinks and biodiversity hotspots—have been lost or severely degraded, worsening climate instability and ecological collapse. Destruction of these ecosystems also disrupts vital food webs and threatens global food security.

Rather than weaken protections, EPA should be strengthening them to address these urgent threats.