Repeal of EPA endangerment finding could have significant impact on Mid-South air quality | Health

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – A major shift in federal climate policy could have significant implications for air quality in the Mid-South.

The Trump administration has repealed the Environmental Protection Agency’s endangerment finding, a 2009 determination that found greenhouse gas emissions endanger public health and welfare. The finding gave the EPA authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gases from vehicles and other sources.

By repealing the finding, the EPA is eliminating federal greenhouse gas emission standards for cars and trucks.

President Donald Trump said the move will reduce costs for consumers.

“This action will save American consumers trillions of dollars and will lower the average cost of a new vehicle by close to $3,000,” Trump said during the announcement.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the agency had exceeded its authority.

“If Congress didn’t authorize it, EPA shouldn’t be doing it,” Zeldin said.

Supporters have argued the regulations drove up vehicle prices and imposed unnecessary burdens on businesses and drivers.

But environmental advocates have warned that the rollback could have serious consequences for public health, particularly in cities like Memphis that already struggle with air quality.

“Memphis is already suffering from extreme heat spells and is projected to be an official extreme heat zone within the next 30 years,” said Gudrun Thompson with the Southern Environmental Law Center. “Memphis also suffers from high levels of smog.”

Transportation is the largest source of climate pollution in the United States. Thompson said weakening vehicle emission standards could worsen air quality and increase health risks for vulnerable populations, including children, seniors, and people with asthma.

“So making cars dirtier again, which is really what yesterday’s action is all about, will just make this problem worse,” she said.

Shelby County has struggled for years to meet federal ozone standards. Shelby, DeSoto and Crittenden counties have all received failing grades in the American Lung Association’s “State of the Air” report.

Local environmental leaders say Memphis’ geographic location in the tri-state area adds to the challenge.

“Memphis, being in the tri-state area, we touch Arkansas and right across the bridge we touch Mississippi,” said LaTricea Adams, founder and CEO of Young, Gifted & Green. “Along with that, we have significant highway, so Memphis catches a lot of pollution from transportation.”

Adams said the endangerment finding provided legal standing to regulate pollution based on its public health impacts. She said removing it “snatches the rug” from under efforts to hold high-polluting industries accountable and to reduce transportation emissions.

“For nearly two decades, it gave legal ground and standing to use public health implications as it relates to accountability with higher polluting industry,” Adams said. “With the rollback, it really puts us in a pickle, to say the least.”

Legal experts expect the repeal to face court challenges, a process that could take years to resolve.

In the meantime, environmental advocates are urging state and local leaders to pursue their own strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect public health in the Mid-South.