Governor Kotek Releases Statement in Response to Climate Danger Rollback

Governor Tina Kotek released the following statement in response to the announcement from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) taking steps to undo the Endangerment Finding, a longstanding scientific finding that human-caused climate change endangers human health and safety:

“The Endangerment Finding that came out 16 years ago paved the way for federal action to reduce carbon pollution from sources like tailpipe emissions from cars and trucks that impact public health and contribute to the impacts from climate change. From cuts to critical research at NASA and NOAA to undermining the regulation of harmful air pollutants, we are seeing a dismantling of climate science and public health protections across the federal government. This is alarming.

“Oregonians value public health decisions based on science, not politics. We need our federal government to stand with us by reducing air pollution that reaches across state boundaries. Oregon has climate pollution reduction goals and programs grounded in science, and we will continue on our path forward despite this backward step by the Trump Administration.”

The Endangerment Finding is a 2009 determination by the EPA that greenhouse gases (GHG), like carbon dioxide and methane, emitted into the atmosphere can be anticipated to pose a threat to public health. The finding was based on decades of scientific evidence into the effects of greenhouse gas emissions on global temperature increases and associated impacts to human health and well-being.

EPA issued the Endangerment Finding following the Supreme Court’s 2007 ruling in Massachusetts v. EPA, in which the Court held that the Clean Air Act required EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles if it determined the emissions cause or contribute to climate change that may endanger human health and welfare.

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