Rescinding the Endangerment Finding Was Overdue. But Where Do We Turn for Justice? – Watts Up With That?

By Gary Abernathy

This article was originally published by The Empowerment Alliance and is re-published here with permission. 

The 2009 “endangerment finding,” in which the EPA formally declared that greenhouse gases were a public health threat, led to draconian laws and policies designed to cripple the fossil fuel industry and bring down the world’s most affordable and accessible energy sources. When EPA administrator Lee Zeldin announced in late July that the agency was rescinding the rule, the outcry from the climate cult was predictable.

The leading handwringer was none other than the spiritual godfather of the extremist climate movement, former Vice President Al Gore, who said, “Today’s EPA announcement ignores the blindingly obvious reality of the climate crisis and sidelines the EPA’s own scientists and lawyers in favor of the interests and profits of the fossil fuel industry.”

Worshipers at the altar of climate calamity lined up to denounce the finding’s rollback both with practiced anger and a well-worn list of catastrophic predictions. But in fact, Zeldin’s announcement didn’t go far enough. While the rescission was a long overdue return to common sense and a repudiation of the exercise of raw politics in the guise of science, it did nothing to make restitution for years of societal and economic damage.

The history is well documented. While the attack on fossil fuels had started much earlier, the Supreme Court’s 2007 ruling that Congress’s 1970 Clean Air Act intended to include carbon dioxide as an air pollutant, it further demanded that the EPA explain why greenhouse gases were not being regulated, especially in regard to auto emissions. In 2009, the Obama administration began producing reams of new regulations for automakers and other “polluters,” a term with an ever-widening and increasingly politicized definition. The Biden administration merrily piled on when its turn came.

The result has been disastrous, starting with a war on the fossil fuel industry that resulted in tens of thousands of lost jobs, billions in taxpayer subsidies and credits for “alternative” energy sources – energy that could not begin to match the affordability, effectiveness and reliability of traditional sources – and imperiling the very safety and security of the American people. While the left argues that jobs in “alternatives” are making up for losses in the fossil fuel industry, the bulk of jobs associated with wind and solar are temporary construction jobs.

In addition to job losses, countless other negative impacts have been associated with federal and/or state laws putting environmental concerns over the needs of human beings. The costs to businesses and industries of complying with onerous environmental regulations result in higher prices for consumers (particularly impacting poorer communities), or businesses simply choosing – or being ordered – to close. Politically motivated “fixes” like carbon taxes and phasing out preferred appliances hinder innovation and diminish manufacturing. Restricting land access based on environmental findings especially hurts rural communities and associated occupations like ranching and farming.

The Church of Climatology is finally being defunded and largely neutered, at least in the U.S. But where do those who suffered because of the cult’s former influence turn for restitution? Who will make up for the despair – the years of lost wages, the disrupted lives, the entire communities that were sacrificed in the name of “fighting climate change?” Where do the victims turn for reparations?

A government agency enforcing reasonable environmental regulations is beneficial for everyone. We want to trust that the air we breathe and the water we drink are safe and clean, along with other common-sense ecological guidelines applicable to everyday life. But the EPA long ago became a weaponized political tool. It was handed a sledgehammer to enforce draconian rules designed to implement partisan agendas. It became an overblown, intimidating and feared government behemoth known more for erecting roadblocks, imposing severe penalties and even shuttering businesses than for its original mission of monitoring basic environmental impacts.

Thanks to the Trump administration, the EPA is returning to its roots: keeping our air, land and water free of deadly pollutants. Hopefully, the days of the EPA serving as an enforcer of extremist political agendas are behind us.

But while climate sanity might be returning to the U.S., much of the world remains in the thralls of the radical climate movement, led by the United Nations, which is preparing to hold its annual climate conference this November, where it colludes with likeminded leftist leaders to enact and enforce extremist climate regulations around the world.

It is not outrageous or even unreasonable to demand an accounting of the human toll exacted by the climate cult, both in the U.S. and globally. What price tag can be put on the economic casualties? What reparations are justifiable for the ruined lives? Who should be held accountable? Investigating those questions and compiling the answers would result in a real “endangerment finding.”

Gary Abernathy is a longtime newspaper editor, reporter and columnist. He was a contributing columnist for the Washington Post from 2017-2023 and a frequent guest analyst across numerous media platforms. He is a contributing columnist for The Empowerment Alliance, which advocates for realistic approaches to energy consumption and environmental conservation. Abernathy’s “TEA Takes” column will be published every Wednesday and delivered to your inbox!

This article was originally published by RealClearEnergy and made available via RealClearWire.

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