LAKEWOOD, Colo. (February 18, 2026)—Mountain States Legal Foundation’s Center for American Prosperity & Energy (CAPE) applauds President Trump and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin for finalizing the rescission of the 2009 Obama-era “endangerment finding,” a regulatory action that has served as the legal foundation for expansive federal control over greenhouse gas emissions.
The endangerment finding followed the Supreme Court’s decision in Massachusetts v. EPA and served as a supposed justification for the EPA to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. That decision became the legal foundation for sweeping federal mandates targeting carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and other emissions from vehicles and power plants.
Over time, it evolved into the cornerstone of an expansive regulatory regime that reached far beyond the Clean Air Act’s original purpose, and beyond what Congress had clearly authorized in the Act.
According to the administration, repealing this policy could save $1.3 trillion, or about $3,823.50 per US resident by reducing vehicle costs and easing compliance burdens across the energy and manufacturing sectors.
MSLF’s Director of CAPE, Ivan London, says, “The Endangerment Finding transformed the Clean Air Act into a vehicle for economy-wide climate regulation without clear authorization from Congress. Whatever one’s views on climate science, major policy decisions of this magnitude belong to Congress—not to administrative agencies stretching decades-old statutes beyond their original design. The EPA’s action restores the proper balance in the Constitution and reins in regulatory overreach that has burdened American energy producers, manufacturers, and consumers.”
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Mountain States Legal Foundation is a nonprofit, public-interest legal firm established in 1977. MSLF is dedicated to individual liberty, limited and ethical government, and the benefits of the free enterprise system. MSLF defends its clients through pro bono litigation and seeks victory for its clients at the highest level possible to establish binding legal precedents to benefit millions of Americans. Through its litigation and public discourse, MSLF educates the American public on the threat unrestrained government presents to our liberties. Learn more at mslegal.org
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