Another Big Step In The Removal Of Destructive "Climate" Regulations

I will never understand how large numbers of seemingly intelligent people got the idea that they were going to save the world by forcing the closure of all the functional parts of the energy system of the U.S.  Nor will I ever understand how enough of those people got themselves into positions of sufficient political power to put their wacko energy ideas into effect.  And yet, by the time President Joe Biden and his minions had left office in early 2025, such people, operating deep in the administrative state (and with the apparent blessing of a demented President), had managed to impose regulations that, by some time in the 2030s would have, among other things, forced the end of the manufacture and sale of all vehicles except electric vehicles, and forced the closure of all power plants using fossil fuels.

Since taking office in January 2025, President Trump and his people have been actively working to rescind and eliminate this insanity.  I have previously reported on many of these actions, for example here and here.  Today the EPA took another big step in removing these destructive regulations by finalizing a Rule titled “Partial Repeal of the Carbon Pollution Standards for Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric Generating Units.”  The final Rule was published today in the Federal Register at 91 F.R. 58,954; it takes effect 60 days from today, that is, November 16, 2026.

Today’s action is ludicrously complex in its efforts to clear away some of the convoluted regulatory thicket erected by the previous administration.  (It was 195 pages long in the standard double-spaced typed format issued a few days ago, in advance of the official Federal Register publication.).  The complexity of the rescission is a function of the complexity of the prior actions that it seeks to unwind.  Today I’ll try to provide a comprehensible summary of the background, and how the latest action fits into the mix.

It was way back in December 2009, during Barack Obama’s first year as President, that EPA adopted what is known as the Endangerment Finding, purporting to determine that carbon dioxide and other “greenhouse gases” constitute a “danger” to human health and welfare.  In the same December 2009 regulatory action, EPA also claimed to find that emissions of these gases from “from new motor vehicles and new motor vehicle engines contribute to the greenhouse gas pollution that threatens public health and welfare.”  That finding then formed the basis for the subsequent regulations that initially imposed fuel economy standards on vehicles, and then further imposed emissions mandates that would ratchet down over time until only fully-electric vehicles could be manufactured and sold.