National Academies publishes strongest rebuke yet of the EPA attempts to dismiss climate threats

One of the United States’ leading scientific groups published its strongest rebuke of the Trump administration’s dismissal of the dangers of climate change, saying the evidence is “beyond scientific dispute.”

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine published a new report Wednesday that says long-term observations “confirm unequivocally that greenhouse gas emissions are warming Earth’s surface and changing Earth’s climate.”

The report stands in opposition to the Trump administration’s decision in July to begin the process of revoking a key scientific finding published by the EPA in 2009 that six greenhouse gases are a threat to public health and must be regulated under the Clean Air Act.

Known as the “endangerment finding,” it has been used by the EPA to regulate sources of climate change-causing pollution from cars, power plants and other sources of transportation like planes, as well as oil and gas operations.

EPA administrator Lee Zeldin has sought to justify the repeal of the endangerment finding by arguing that it is too costly to regulate greenhouse gases and that the agency may not even have the authority to regulate them. He has also cited a 2025 Energy Department study that found greenhouse gases “appear to be less damaging economically than commonly believed.”

But the National Academies concluded that the 2009 finding was accurate and is bolstered by stronger evidence that has since been supported by additional scientific research.

“Much of the understanding of climate change that was uncertain or tentative in 2009 is now resolved and new threats have been identified. These new threats and the areas of remaining uncertainty are under intensive investigation by the scientific community,” the National Academies report said. “The United States faces a future in which climate-induced harm continues to worsen and today’s extremes become tomorrow’s norms.” 

In addition to the National Academies, which are nonprofit institutions that provide independent analysis to help inform policy decisions related to science, several members of Congress have also criticized the EPA for revoking the 2009 endangerment finding.

Democratic Sen. Edward Markley of Massachusetts, along with every member of the Massachusetts congressional delegation, sent a letter to Zeldin, writing, “Repealing the Endangerment Finding would go against Supreme Court precedent and congressional intent to regulate greenhouse gas emissions while stripping the EPA of its mandate, giving polluters a free pass to harm American families.”

The EPA invited public comments on its proposal to revoke the finding, which is why the National Academies assembled its 135-page report. As of Sept. 15, the deadline to submit, there were more than 102,758 comments received. The EPA will now review comments before issuing its final decision on the fate of the finding.