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Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Law, regulation and treaties · United States · 2026

EPA repeals 2009 greenhouse gas endangerment finding on legal grounds

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 5 none on record · 1 not measured See the gaps

The US Environmental Protection Agency repealed its 2009 greenhouse gas endangerment finding in February 2026. The agency estimates savings of 1.3 trillion dollars, while 24 states and environmental groups have sued.

What?
EPA repealed the 2009 greenhouse gas endangerment finding on 12 February 2026, relying on legal grounds. US Environmental Protection Agency
Where?
United States, federal rule US Environmental Protection Agency
When?
Repeal dated 12 February 2026 in the Wyoming Public Radio report; lawsuits followed.
Who?
Gained
  • Vehicle and engine manufacturers — Listed as beneficiaries of the repeal in the cited analyses; the sources reviewed give no figure for their gain US Environmental Protection Agency
Lost
None on record
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Wyoming Public Radio reported the legal basis as a narrow reading of the scope of the finding, the major questions doctrine, and a claim that US vehicles have a negligible global effect.
How?
A final agency action repealing the 2009 finding. US Environmental Protection Agency
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Wyoming Public Radio reported that the Environmental Protection Agency repealed the 2009 greenhouse gas endangerment finding on 12 February 2026.

The sources reviewed say the repeal rested on legal grounds rather than scientific findings, including a narrow reading of the Clean Air Act's scope and the major questions doctrine.

Wyoming Public Radio reported that 24 states and environmental groups sued over the repeal, and EPA's own estimate puts the savings at 1.3 trillion dollars.

Copernicus reported that 2024 was the warmest year on record, 1.60 °C above pre-industrial levels; ECMWF ranked 2025 as the third warmest, at 1.47 °C.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • None on record The sources reviewed do not give the effective date of the repeal.
    • None on record The outcome of the lawsuits by 24 states and environmental groups is not stated in the sources reviewed.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not quantify the costs or benefits for vehicle and engine manufacturers.
    • None on record No independent re-measurement that contests the temperature records is cited in the sources reviewed.
    • None on record The Wyoming Public Radio report of 31 March 2026 is cited without a link in the sources reviewed.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Press and investigations

    1. EPA action on the 2009 endangerment finding (13 February 2026)
      US Environmental Protection Agency · 2026-02-13
    2. Global Climate Highlights 2024
      Copernicus Climate Change Service · 2025-01
    3. 2025 third-warmest year
      ECMWF · 2026-01

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
    Terms used on this page

    Institutions

    EPA
    The US Environmental Protection Agency.

    Science and environment

    PFOA (C8) and PFAS
    PFAS are a large family of human-made chemicals that persist in the environment and the body; PFOA, also called C8, is one of them and was used to make Teflon.
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