Feb. 18, 2026:
WASHINGTON (AP) — A coalition of health and environmental groups is suing the Environmental Protection Agency, challenging the rescinding of a scientific finding that has been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change. A rule finalized by the EPA rescinded a 2009 government declaration known as the endangerment finding that determined that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare. The Obama-era finding is the legal underpinning of nearly all climate regulations under the Clean Air Act for motor vehicles, power plants and other pollution sources that are heating the planet. The lawsuit filed Wednesday (Feb. 18, 2026) calls the EPA’s action unlawful and says the finding supported common sense safeguards to cut climate pollution.
Feb. 12, 2026:
EPA Press Office WASHINGTON – Alongside President Trump in the White House’s Roosevelt Room, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin announced (Feb. 12, 2026) the single largest deregulatory action in U.S. history. In this final rule, EPA is saving American taxpayers over $1.3 trillion, eliminating both the Obama-era 2009 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Endangerment Finding and all subsequent federal GHG emission standards for all vehicles and engines of model years 2012 to 2027 and beyond. The action also eliminates all off-cycle credits, including for the almost universally hated start-stop feature. EPA’s historic move restores consumer choice, makes more affordable vehicles available for American families, and decreases the cost of living on all products by lowering the cost of trucks. This major deregulatory process included substantial public input and robust analysis of the law following the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and West Virginia v. EPA.
The 2009 Endangerment Finding was used to justify trillions of dollars in regulations, including the Obama and Biden Administrations’ illegal push towards Electric Vehicle (EV) mandates and compliance requirements, while simultaneously driving up the cost of vehicles for American families and small businesses— limiting economic mobility and the American Dream. The final rule will save Americans over $1.3 trillion by removing the regulatory requirements to measure, report, certify, and comply with federal GHG emission standards for motor vehicles, and repeals associated compliance programs, credit provisions, and reporting obligations that exist solely to support the vehicle GHG regulatory regime. Americans will have certainty, flexibility and regulatory relief, allowing companies to plan appropriately, and empowering American families.
Returning the Rule of Law to EPA Regulations
In finalizing this rule, EPA carefully considered and reevaluated the legal foundation of the 2009 Endangerment Finding and the text of the Clean Air Act (CAA) in light of subsequent legal developments and court decisions. The agency concludes that Section 202(a) of the CAA does not provide statutory authority for EPA to prescribe motor vehicle and engine emission standards in the manner previously utilized, including for the purpose of addressing global climate change, and therefore has no legal basis for the Endangerment Finding and resulting regulations. EPA firmly believes the 2009 Endangerment Finding made by the Obama Administration exceeded the agency’s authority to combat “air pollution” that harms public health and welfare, and that a policy decision of this magnitude, which carries sweeping economic and policy consequences, lies solely with Congress. Unlike our predecessors, the Trump EPA is committed to following the law exactly as it is written and as Congress intended—not as others might wish it to be.
Creating Policy Rooted in Reality
The Endangerment Finding was a legal prerequisite used by the Obama and Biden Administrations to regulate GHG emissions. In the 16 years since the Endangerment Finding, many of the predictions and assumptions used to justify the rule did not materialize. Using the same types of models utilized by the previous administrations and climate change zealots, EPA now finds that even if the U.S. were to eliminate all GHG emissions from all vehicles, there would be no material impact on global climate indicators through 2100. Therefore, maintaining GHG emission standards is not necessary for EPA to fulfill its core mission of protecting human health and the environment, but regardless, is not within the authority Congress entrusted to EPA. Today’s action is only related to GHG emissions and does not affect regulations that combat criteria pollutants and air toxics. The Trump EPA’s final rule dismantles the tactics and legal fictions used by the Obama and Biden Administrations to backdoor their ideological agendas on the American people.
Restoring the American Dream
Affordable vehicle ownership is essential to the American Dream and a primary driver of economic mobility out of poverty in the United States. The Endangerment Finding led to vehicle and engine regulations with an aggregate cost of more than $1 trillion and played a significant role in EPA’s justification of regulations of other sources beyond cars and trucks, resulting in additional costly burdens on American families and businesses. Americans rely on vehicles to reach jobs, education, health care, and essential services. This is especially true in rural areas and regions without robust public transit. The costs imposed by these climate policies have placed new cars out of reach for many American families and harmed Americans’ ability to climb out of poverty or reach essential services. The Trump EPA is expected to deliver Americans over $1.3 trillion in cost savings, which includes reduced costs for new vehicles and avoided costs of purchasing equipment related to EVs. This action will result in an average cost savings of over $2,400 per vehicle. By lowering vehicle and regulatory compliance costs, EPA is improving affordability and expanding consumer choice and ultimately advancing the American Dream by making it easier to reach jobs, grow small businesses, and participate fully in the transportation and logistics systems that power the U.S. economy.
Prioritizing Consumer Choice
The Endangerment Finding enabled the Obama and Biden Administrations’ illegal push toward EV mandates. These mandates pressure the vehicle industry to phase down production of various models of traditional gasoline and diesel trucks and to reengineer their fleets towards uneconomic and infeasible electric technologies. The Obama and Biden Administrations also used the Endangerment Finding to support off-cycle credits to forcibly incentivize automakers into adopting unpopular systems, undermining consumer choice. An off-cycle credit is a government-created concept
Collecting Substantial Public Input
Understanding the importance of this action, EPA conducted a transparent and inclusive rulemaking process. The agency held an extended 52-day public comment period, which included four days of virtual public hearings where more than 600 individuals testified. EPA received about 572,000 public comments on the proposed rule and made substantial updates to the final rule in response to comments. A summary of public input and EPA’s responses to all comments can be found in the final rule preamble and accompanying documents, and all comments received, including entries summarizing several hundred mass-mailer campaigns, are available in the rulemaking docket.
Background
Congress tasked EPA under Section 202(a)(1) of the CAA with prescribing emission standards for new motor vehicles and engines when the Administrator determines that emissions from a class or classes of new motor vehicles and engines cause or contribute to air pollution that may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare. In an unprecedented move, the Obama EPA found that carbon dioxide emissions emitted from automobiles – in combination with five other gases, some of which vehicles don’t even emit – contribute an unknown amount to greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere that, in turn, play a role through varied causal chains that may endanger human health and welfare. These mental leaps were admittedly novel, as EPA had for decades understood that the “air pollution” targeted by the statute means pollution that harms health or the environment through local and regional exposure. However, this creative interpretation of the law was the only way the Obama-Biden Administration determined they could potentially access EPA’s authority to regulate under Section 202(a)(1). This flawed legal theory took the agency outside the scope of its statutory authority in multiple respects.
Additionally, major Supreme Court decisions in the intervening years, including Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, West Virginia v. EPA, Michigan v. EPA, and Utility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA, have significantly clarified the scope of EPA’s authority under the CAA and made clear that the interpretive moves the Endangerment Finding used to launch an unprecedented course of regulation were unlawful. The decisions emphasized that statutes have a single, best meaning fixed at the time of enactment; that major policy determinations must be made by Congress, not by administrative agencies, and that agencies cannot bury their heads in the sand as to the consequences of their actions when considering regulations that impose immense costs.
President Trump’s Day One Executive Order 14154 “Unleashing American Energy” tasked EPA with submitting
Additionally…..
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin eliminated (Feb. 12, 2026) the off-cycle credit that was used to implement the almost universally hated start-stop feature in American vehicles. This is a direct result of Administrator Zeldin signing the final rule eliminating both the Obama-era 2009 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Endangerment Finding and all subsequent federal GHG emission standards for all vehicles and engines with model years 2012 to 2027 and beyond. The final action, which Administrator Zeldin announced today with President Trump at the White House, eliminates all off-cycle credits, including for what many Americans refer to as the single worst feature in cars—auto start-stop buttons. An off-cycle credit is a government-created concept that let auto manufacturers meet federal GHG standards on paper, by adding features like the almost universally hated start-stop feature, resulting in questionable emission reductions.
“As I traveled across all 50 states this past year, I heard from countless Americans who not only dislike the start-stop feature but passionately advocated for this mechanism to be a thing of the past. Not only do many people find start-stop annoying, but it kills the battery of your car without any significant benefit to the environment. The Trump EPA is proudly fixing this stupid feature at Trump Speed,” said Administrator Zeldin. “Automakers should not be forced to adopt or rewarded for technologies that are merely a climate participation trophy with no measurable pollution reductions. Consumer choice is a top priority for the Trump EPA, and we are proud to continue delivering
“This Administration is taking a whole-of-government approach to make cars more affordable again. Whether it’s resetting mileage standards or abolishing an idiotic start-stop requirement that every driver hates, President Trump’s auto dream team is working overtime to lower costs and revitalize American manufacturing. I want to commend Administrator Zeldin for his leadership and look forward to continuing deliver results for the American people,” said U.S. Department
The start-stop off-cycle credit was created by the Obama EPA in 2012. Over a decade later, it has led to the start-stop systems, which automatically shut off a vehicle’s engine when waiting at red lights and other times of idling, becoming a standard piece of equipment across all vehicles. However, this feature has proven to be nothing more than a regulatory loophole that allowed automakers to claim GHG credits without delivering real-world emission reductions or benefits to human health.
Over the last decade, frustration has grown across America over this “green technology.” With about 60 percent of new cars having the feature, consumer choice was extremely limited to the millions of Americans who did not want the technology in their cars. With the elimination of the off-cycle credits, manufacturers will be incentivized to listen to what Americans actually want in their cars. Today’s final decision reinforces the Trump EPA’s commitment to consumer choice.
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