That United States President Donald Trump means business in his anti-climate and anti-science campaign is by now evident to everyone. The American billionaire has been at least consistent in this regard: from the revival of fossil fuels to the withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, through to the announcement of his departure from numerous international organisations dedicated to environmental protection, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (Unfccc).

Trump wants to eliminate the legal foundation of the fight against climate change

But even from the standpoint of regulatory architecture, if a future administration were to reverse course and restore an active role for the United States in the fight against global warming, there would be an enormous amount of work to do. The dismantling carried out by Trump is, in fact — and this is precisely the word — systematic: the latest victim is the document known as the "Endangerment Finding", which has been in the crosshairs since last summer.

EDF @EnvDefenseFund

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Two former heads of the Environmental Protection Agency—under a Dem. and a Rep. administration—are "appalled" by EPA Admin Lee Zeldin's planned repeal of the 2009 Endangerment Finding.

Here's why they say his actions "literally abandon EPA's mission": bit.ly/45jcjPA

♥ 3 16 gen 2026 · Apri su X →

This is not a law in the strict sense, but rather a body of scientific evidence, first published in 2009 by the Epa, the United States Environmental Protection Agency. A document that forms a legal foundation upon which a great number of regulations approved over time rest, all aimed at combating the climate crisis.

The matter dates back to a 2007 lawsuit involving the Epa

The Endangerment Finding is rooted in a 2007 legal battle: the case "Massachusetts vs. Epa", which ended up before the Supreme Court. Previously, the American agency did not consider itself formally authorised to take action aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, around ten states — including Massachusetts — launched a legal action to compel the Epa to take on that responsibility. And the Supreme Court ruled in their favour.

Two years later, the agency had expanded the list of pollutants to include six greenhouse gases. In the name of deregulation, however, the current Washington administration believes that the productive capacity of American industries must take precedence over climate protection.

Eliminating the Epa's ability to regulate CO2, methane and other gas emissions will allow the Trump administration to far more easily repeal a series of regulations that derive directly from the Endangerment Finding. A prospect which, according to Lee Zeldin, Trump loyalist and head of the Epa, "will represent the greatest act of deregulation in United States history."

"This way the Epa becomes the Agency for the Protection of Polluters"

On the contrary, Manish Bapna, president of the non-governmental organisation, condemned the move as "the biggest attack ever on the prerogatives of the fight against the climate crisis. President Trump is trying to turn the Environmental Protection Agency into the Agency for the Protection of Polluters."

What is certain is that the repeal of the document will be the subject of a new legal battle, which could once again end up before the Supreme Court. And although the latter is now of a conservative orientation, it might choose not to overturn a ruling handed down by the very same highest body of American justice.