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Trump repeals key climate protection provision

2026-02-15 08:42:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

United States President Donald Trump has repealed one of the most important climate protection regulations in the US. Together with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head Lee Zeldin, Trump has declared the 2009 Hazard Finding Rule invalid.

According to this Regulation, since the first term of then-President Barack Obama (2009), greenhouse gases are considered a threat to public health and human well-being.

Legal basis for climate action

The EPA initially classified six greenhouse gases as air pollutants and a threat to human health based on extensive scientific studies. This was the basis for the EPA to regulate these gases under one of the key clean air laws, the Clean Air Act.

The law gives the EPA the authority to set limits on air pollutants and set quality standards, such as standards for car emissions. The finding of endangerment was then the legal basis for almost all climate regulations.

Trump called it "the greatest deregulation in American history." He called the climate regulations "catastrophic." He said they had "particularly badly damaged the American auto industry and drastically raised prices for Americans."

Significantly higher emissions than in Germany

The United States is one of the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gases. Per capita emissions in 2024 averaged 14 tons. This is significantly more than in China with 8.7 tons and in Germany with 6.8 tons. Greenhouse gases are considered by science to be the main driver of human-caused climate change.

Since Trump came to power, the US government has been sharply cutting funding for climate protection and research - including on topics such as global warming. In January, the United States officially withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement. In the 2015 Agreement, some 200 countries pledged to limit global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels - and preferably to 1.5°C. This would avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis.

Criticism of Obama and Greenpeace

Former President Barack Obama criticized the decision. It makes the US "less safe, less healthy and less able to combat climate change," he said on Platform X. Abandoning climate rules serves "to make even more money for the fossil fuel industry."

Greenpeace accused Trump of "persistent lies" about climate change. "While this action lines the pockets of big oil companies, everyone else must pay the price," said Tim Donaghy, research director for Greenpeace's US section. /DW