EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin appeared to propose a new argument this week for why his agency should overhaul a key scientific finding that underpins most climate rules.
Speaking at a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on his agency’s budget Tuesday, Zeldin said the Obama-era EPA had erred by not considering the harm done by each of the six greenhouse gases individually when it formulated its so-called endangerment finding, which assessed their combined effects.
“They didn’t study each of these six individually. They studied all six collectively,” he said, in response to a question by New York Rep. Paul Tonko (D) about EPA’s announcement in March that it would review the 2009 finding, which paved the way for greenhouse gas emissions to be regulated under the Clean Air Act.
The original endangerment finding looked at the harm posed by greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, Zeldin noted, even though vehicles don’t emit all six gases.
