As Connecticut residents push through another hot, humid summer, local health experts are again warning that hotter days may be ahead, especially if the federal government is successful in moves to roll back major climate change policy.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency announced in late July that it plans to end a decade-old Obama-era climate policy known as the “endangerment finding.” Enacted in 2009, it allows the EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide, as an air pollutant under the Clean Air Act. The endangerment finding is at the heart of several federal climate rules and regulations for motor vehicle emissions, power plants and other significant sources of pollution.
The Trump administration claims vehicle emissions rules burden Americans and automakers with high costs, despite evidence linking greenhouse gases to climate change. Its proposal would repeal these regulations, which it says would save $54 billion annually.