Throughout rural America, federal energy and environmental policy shapes how communities, businesses, and landowners prepare for their future. These policies have real implications for rural economies, particularly those that rely on agriculture, transportation, and energy development. These changes hit rural areas especially hard, putting increased pressure on communities that often have fewer resources to respond where access to affordable vehicles, reliable infrastructure, and clear regulations are crucial.
For the last 17 years, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Endangerment Finding has been key to the nation’s approach to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. This finding determined that six greenhouse gases pose a threat to the public health and welfare, and established the scientific and legal foundation for federal regulation of emissions from major sources like vehicles, large industrial facilities, and power plants.
In 2007, in Massachusetts v. EPA, the Supreme Court ruled that greenhouse gases are air pollutants under the Clean Air Act, and they endanger public health and welfare. The EPA then issued the Endangerment Finding in 2009, and it was upheld in 2012 by the U.S. Court of Appeals.
Since its establishment, the Endangerment Finding has enabled a wide range of federal policies and regulations. These include greenhouse gas emission standards for light-duty vehicles and medium and heavy-duty trucks beginning with model year 2012, as well as permitting requirements for stationary sources like power plants and industrial facilities under the Tailoring Rule. It has also served as the foundation for policies addressing emissions from the power sector, oil and gas operations (including methane standards), and even aircraft engines.
Recent actions by the administration would rescind the EPA’s Endangerment Finding and eliminate the associated greenhouse gas emission standards for vehicles and engines. According to the EPA, this rule is intended to reduce regulatory requirements, reduce costs, and increase consumer choice. The rule would also remove compliance programs, credit provisions, and reporting obligations tied to these emissions standards.
Rescinding the Finding would have far-reaching implications. Since it has served as the legal basis for many regulatory programs, its removal could significantly limit the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions across multiple sectors. This could impact vehicle affordability and access in rural America, where driving is essential and communities depend on and benefit from these systems, as well as create more uncertainty for rural communities that may be considering energy project development, infrastructure investments, and long-term economic planning. Putting similar regulations back into place later would take a considerable amount of time, require new laws, and could face legal challenges.
Rescinding the Endangerment Finding would not only affect current regulations but also reshape the government’s role in emissions oversight. While this is challenged in federal court, states and individuals are stepping up and putting their own policies and safeguards in place.
To push back, individuals can support the many legal challenges filed by environmental groups, or urge your state and local officials to pass their own emissions and climate protections. The results of these decisions will determine how, and by whom, leads on these issues in the years ahead.
