EPA Rescinds Landmark Endangerment Finding, Experts Warn of Chaotic Aftermath

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The EPA has moved to rescind its 2009 Endangerment Finding, which established that greenhouse gases pose a threat to public health and safety. Experts warn this could have widespread unintended consequences, including exposing fossil fuel companies to lawsuits over environmental damage that the Endangerment Finding had previously shielded them from.

Why it matters

The Endangerment Finding was the legal foundation for federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. Revoking it could undermine climate change mitigation efforts and lead to a wave of lawsuits against industries that previously had protection from such litigation.

The details

In 2007, the Supreme Court ruled in Massachusetts v. EPA that the agency must determine whether greenhouse gases constitute actionable air pollution under the Clean Air Act. The resulting Endangerment Finding in 2009 established that six greenhouse gases do pose a threat. However, the EPA has now moved to rescind this finding, which it claims will "save Americans over $1.3 trillion." Experts warn this could "open a Pandora's box of complications" for industry, exposing fossil fuel companies to lawsuits over environmental damage that the Endangerment Finding had previously shielded them from.

• In 2007, the Supreme Court ruled in Massachusetts v. EPA.
• In 2009, the EPA issued the Endangerment Finding.
• On February 12, 2026, the EPA moved to rescind the Endangerment Finding.
• On February 18, 2026, a coalition of groups filed the first lawsuit demanding a review of the rescission.

What’s next

A coalition of 17 public health, environmental, and science groups have filed the first lawsuit demanding a review of the EPA's rescission of the Endangerment Finding, with other groups and individual states expected to mount separate legal challenges.