In particular, it “severely damaged the American auto industry and massively increased prices for Americans.” In the USA, not only the rules for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from vehicles are based on risk assessment. The government is also prescribing emission values for greenhouse gases such as methane or CO2 for gas or coal-fired power plants. The largest amount of CO2 is emitted in traffic in the USA. Scientists say greenhouse gases are accelerating global warming and damaging health.
The head of the US Environmental Protection Agency, appointed by Trump, Lee Zeldin, claimed that the virtual end to climate protection in the USA would save the country expenses amounting to 1.3 trillion dollars (around 1.1 trillion euros). He did not explain how this number came about. New cars are said to be cheaper by around $3,000.
Trump has repeatedly described climate protection as “the biggest fraud” in the world. Contrary to scientific evidence, the Republican claimed that reduced greenhouse gas emissions have “nothing to do with public health.” Obama and Democratic President Joe Biden “robbed” the USA with climate protection targets.
After taking office a year ago, Trump announced that the USA would withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, which aims to limit the global temperature increase to a maximum of two degrees compared to the pre-industrial era. The USA had already turned its back on the agreement during Trump’s first term in office (2017 to 2021).
Experts expect a wave of lawsuits from environmental protection organizations against the lifting of the risk assessment. The case could ultimately end up in the Supreme Court. If the government gets support here, it would be a turnaround in US jurisprudence.
In 2007, the Supreme Court ruled based on scientific findings that greenhouse gases are considered air pollutants and ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to take this into account. The EPA then declared greenhouse gases harmful to health in 2009.
The Trump administration’s report on the alleged harmlessness of greenhouse gases was panned by researchers in key respects. They criticized numerous errors and incorrect interpretation of the studies cited.
date: 2026-02-12 20:33:00
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