State Treasurer Supports Roll Back of EPA Climate Regulations. New Orleans traffic - Getty image.
NEW ORLEANS – Louisiana State Treasurer John Fleming has joined a coalition of state financial officers that are part of a national conservative movement supporting the Environmental Protection Agency’s July 29 decision to rescind the 2009 Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding, a landmark climate ruling adopted after extensive scientific research concluded that carbon dioxide and other
NEW ORLEANS – Louisiana State Treasurer John Fleming has joined a coalition of state financial officers that are part of a national conservative movement supporting the Environmental Protection Agency’s July 29 decision to rescind the 2009 Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding, a landmark climate ruling adopted after extensive scientific research concluded that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases harm human health and the environment. The rule had given the federal government authority to regulate those emissions under the Clean Air Act.
The group, which includes 12 members of the State Financial Officers Foundation and four researchers from the American Institute for Economic Research, argues that the rule has imposed costly and unnecessary regulations on manufacturers and consumers while overstepping the EPA’s legal authority.
The 2009 finding gave the agency the power to set national vehicle-emission standards and other limits on greenhouse gases. Environmental groups have credited the policy with driving cleaner technologies and helping the U.S. reduce emissions, but opponents say it unnecessarily expanded federal reach. Fleming and his colleagues said the decision “triggered a wave of regulatory expansion without sufficient congressional oversight. It has imposed significant costs on consumers and manufacturers while failing to demonstrate meaningful environmental benefits.”
Economic Framing by State Financial Officers
Although the Endangerment Finding is an environmental and public-health determination, members of the State Financial Officers Foundation say the resulting regulations carry major financial consequences for state economies. The group contends that stricter federal climate rules increase production and energy costs, affecting industries, tax revenues, and public investment portfolios.
By weighing in, state treasurers argue they are defending fiscal stability and consumer affordability, not simply taking an environmental position. Critics, however, say the foundation’s members are stretching their role as financial stewards to advance a political agenda against climate action.
National Debate Over the EPA Proposal
On July 29, the Environmental Protection Agency formally rescinded the 2009 Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding, ending the agency’s determination that greenhouse gas emissions harm human health and the environment.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the change would lift what he called “hidden taxes” on businesses and consumers, while environmental and public health groups warned the move would gut the federal government’s ability to regulate climate pollution.
Following the announcement, scientists and advocacy organizations denounced the decision as a direct challenge to the Supreme Court’s 2007 Massachusetts v. EPA ruling, which held that greenhouse gases qualify as air pollutants under the Clean Air Act. Environmental groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, vowed to challenge the rollback in court, arguing that the EPA is legally obligated to regulate pollutants that endanger public health.
Scientific Consensus Grows Stronger
Scientific support for the 2009 finding has not weakened. If anything, it has grown stronger. Yet Fleming, a medical doctor, is challenging the scientific evidence linking greenhouse gases to serious risks for human health and the environment.
In Sept., the National Academies of Sciences released a fast-track review reaffirming that human-caused greenhouse gas emissions endanger public health, welfare, and climate stability. The report concluded that the 2009 finding “was accurate, has stood the test of time, and is now reinforced by even stronger evidence.” It noted that research since 2009 has expanded observational records and identified new health impacts linked to rising temperatures and pollution.
The National Academies’ report detailed a range of threats tied to greenhouse-gas-driven climate change, including increased heat-related illness and mortality, degraded air quality from ozone and particulate pollution, and more frequent floods and wildfires. The authors said evidence of harm has deepened across nearly every measure, and that “new evidence is developing about additional health impacts of climate-related exposures” not yet recognized in 2009.
That conclusion directly challenges claims by proponents of repeal who argue that current science is weaker or more uncertain than it was in 2009. Major research institutions, including the U.S. National Climate Assessment and international medical journals such as The Lancet, have likewise found that climate change is already contributing to worsening air quality, expanding disease risk, and causing thousands of premature deaths in the United States each year.
Carbon dioxide escapes from an industrial oil refining and storage operation. State Treasurer Supports Roll Back of EPA Climate Regulations. Getty image.
Federal Limits and State Authority
The push comes as recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings have placed new limits on federal agencies, requiring clearer congressional authorization for major regulatory actions. Fleming said those decisions strengthen the case for revisiting the EPA’s climate authority.
“Revoking the 2009 Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding will be a constructive move toward restoring a more balanced federal approach, one that aligns with the principles of competitive federalism,” Fleming said in a statement. “This shift will empower states to lead with innovative, tailored solutions to energy and climate challenges, fostering healthy competition among state governments and returning federal policy to its rightful, limited role.”
The State Financial Officers Foundation
The State Financial Officers Foundation is a nonprofit alliance of Republican state treasurers, auditors, and comptrollers that advocates for what it calls “free-market” financial and energy policies.
Based in Kansas, the group has become a key player in national conservative efforts to challenge federal regulations and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investment standards. Its members say they seek to protect taxpayers and promote fiscal responsibility, while critics describe the foundation as part of a broader political push to roll back climate and corporate accountability measures.
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