EPA ADMINISTRATOR ZELDIN: We’ve killed the 16-year Democrat climate weapon for good

For 16 years, the so-called Discover risks It has been the weapon of choice for climate change fanatics in Washington. The law, created by Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency in 2009, has justified trillions of dollars in regulations, restricted what cars could be manufactured, and raised the cost of living for American families. It has pushed this country toward an unpopular electric vehicle mandate, imposed crushing compliance requirements, and fostered a new level of government overreach that has made the blood of hardworking Americans boil.

On Thursday, standing next to President Trump in the White House, I was proud to make this announcement Hazard detection has been eliminated — and with it all the federal greenhouse gas emissions standards for vehicles and engines that followed.

This is it The largest single editorial action In US history, it will save American taxpayers more than $1.3 trillion. This measure will result in an average saving of over $2,400 per vehicle. By eliminating the costs of regulatory compliance, we make it easier for families to buy the vehicle they really want – improving affordability, helping Americans access jobs, grow small businesses, and participate more fully in the transportation and logistics systems that support the American economy.

Obama-era greenhouse gas rules end as EPA’s ZELDIN signs ‘largest regulatory action’ in history

As an added bonus, the incentive for one of the most unpopular features in modern vehicles – the automatic start/stop system – has been eliminated. I heard how much Americans hate this feature while visiting all 50 states last year. The system turns off the engine at red lights, drains the batteries faster and provides no meaningful environmental benefit. It was little more than a climate engagement prize — a regulatory incentive that allows automakers to claim green credits on paper without achieving real-world results.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin speaks alongside President Donald Trump during an event in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on February 12, 2026, announcing the administration’s reversal of the 2009 hazard finding, the scientific decision supporting federal regulation of global warming emissions. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Automakers should never be forced to adopt or reward technologies that Americans don’t want. Trump’s EPA will choose consumer choice over climate stance every time.

Let me explain why we took this action: The American people demanded it, and the law requires it. Obama administration Extended the Clean Air Act The claim that carbon dioxide from tailpipes – along with five other gases, some of which are not even vehicle emissions – constitutes “air pollution” that has contributed to global climate change and endangered public health and well-being. For decades, the EPA has understood that the Clean Air Act addresses pollution that directly harms the health of people in their communities — not global climate policy. But the Obama-Biden administration twisted the law to seize power it was never given, and the risk report was its weapon of choice.

Since then, the Supreme Court has made clear in landmark decisions such as Looper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and West Virginia v. EPA that agencies cannot bend laws to seize power that Congress never granted. Major policy decisions of this magnitude belong to Congress, not to unelected bureaucrats. And unlike our predecessors, Trump’s EPA is following the law as it was written and as Congress wanted it to be — not as climate activists might wish it to be.

Trump escalates battle with Newsom, shuts down governor’s left-wing rules shaking auto industry

These same activists don’t want Americans to know that their completely unfounded expectations were never fulfilled. The risk report is based on expectations and assumptions that have not been met over the past 16 years. The same types of models that previous administrations and climate activists relied on to bolster the risk report’s findings have failed to stand up to scrutiny. Trump’s EPA now finds that even if the United States eliminated all greenhouse gas emissions from every vehicle on the road, there would be no Impact on global climate change – The basic assumption used in 2009 to justify these regulations.

Let that sink in: trillions of dollars Unnecessary costs It was imposed on American families. Americans have lost freedoms that should never have been taken away from them. Trump’s environmental protection agreement creates a policy rooted in reality, not ideology.

Click here for more Fox News opinions

This was not a decision we made lightly. We conducted a transparent rulemaking process with a 52-day public comment period, four days of virtual public hearings where more than 600 people testified, and nearly 572,000 public comments. We listened, made substantive updates and delivered.

Affordable car ownership is at the heart of the American dream. It’s how families get to work, how small businesses move goods, and how millions of Americans in rural communities without public transportation access health care, education, and opportunity. It remains one of the primary drivers of economic mobility in the United States.

Click here to download the FOX NEWS app

Regulations based on hazard detection have put new vehicles out of the reach of American families. The Obama and Biden administrations’ push toward mandating electric vehicles has put pressure on automakers to downsize traditional gasoline and diesel trucks and re-engineer fleets toward technologies they say are uneconomical and infeasible. The costs of these climate policies were heaviest on Americans who were least able to bear them.

President Trump promised To unleash American energy, revive the American auto industry, and put the American people first. Today, we delivered on that promise in what we believe is the largest deregulation and cost-saving measure for Americans in U.S. history. The era of climate regulation where government knows best is over. The American dream is back. I made promises, I kept promises.

Click here to read more from EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin