The President of the United States, Donald Trump, revoked this Thursday (12) the so-called “risk declaration”, approved by the Barack Obama government in 2009, which established that six greenhouse gases emitted by combustion engines are harmful to health.
Trump defended the measure as “the largest deregulatory action in American history” and said it would drastically reduce costs for vehicle manufacturers and buyers.
“This measure will save American consumers trillions of dollars and reduce the average cost of a new vehicle by almost $3,000. Think about that. During my campaign, I promised to eliminate ten old regulations for every new regulation, and we exceeded that goal,” Trump said at an event held at the White House, where he was accompanied by the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Lee Zeldin.
Trump claimed that the Obama-era regulations had “nothing to do with public health” and were “a hoax, a gigantic hoax.” “It was a robbery of the country by Obama and [outro ex-presidente democrata, Joe] Biden,” he stated.
In March last year, the EPA had already announced that it would review around 30 regulations related to polluting gases.
The declaration, approved during Obama’s first term (2009-2013), established that six greenhouse gases present in the Earth’s atmosphere and emitted by automobile combustion engines, such as carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide, pose a health risk.
Since returning to power in January 2025, the Republican president has emphasized his intention to eliminate regulations for gasoline-powered vehicles and limit federal subsidies for electric vehicles, in addition to condemning the use of renewable energy, such as solar and wind, with his government canceling several projects of this type in states governed by the Democratic opposition.
