For most of my life, the climate industrial complex has been a thorn in the side of the U.S. economy. Over the years, it has wrought numerous laws and regulations that have stifled economic growth, innovation, prosperity, and productivity. All in the name of saving the human species and the planet from the existential crisis called climate change.

The blunt reality is that climate alarmist fearmongering has jumped the shark. It is now a subject of ridicule. No one really believes the world is going to end in a few years if we don’t immediately abandon fossil fuels.

However, the climate change charade lasted a while and did extensive economic damage. It will take years, if not decades, to reverse all this unnecessary harm.

The good news is that one of the most fundamental elements of the climate industrial complex, the Endangerment Finding, seems to be on the brink of elimination.

Unbeknownst to most Americans, the Endangerment Finding, which the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) put into effect under President Barack Obama, essentially labels carbon dioxide a harmful “pollutant” that can be regulated under the Clean Air Act.

Since it was put into place in late 2009, the Endangerment Finding has been used increasingly by the federal government to regulate fossil fuels.

“The Endangerment Finding is the legal foundation that underpins vital protections for millions of people from the severe threats of climate change, and the Clean Car and Truck Standards are among the most important and effective protections to address the largest U.S. source of climate-causing pollution,” according to Peter Zalzal, associate vice president of the Environmental Defense Fund.

Zalzal is a climate alarmist. He may even realize that carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels are not causing a climate crisis. However, like so many climate alarmists, he is part of the cottage industry the "crisis" has spawned over the decades.

In fact, the Endangerment Finding is predicated on flawed science to begin with. Despite the insistence by the EPA over the years that carbon dioxide is a harmful pollutant that is driving an existential climate crisis, the data say otherwise.

Under President Trump 2.0, the EPA is finally reversing course on Obama’s catch-all climate regulatory tool.

On January 20, Trump signed an executive order titled “Unleashing American Energy,” which instructed EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to “submit recommendations… on the legality and continuing applicability” of the Endangerment Finding within 30 days.

Nearly six months later, the verdict is in: The Endangerment Finding will be repealed by the Trump administration.

According to Zeldin, “Repealing [the Endangerment Finding] will be the largest deregulatory action in the history of America.”

Even better, he described the coming rule overturn as akin to “basically driving a dagger into the heart of the climate change religion.”

Ordinary hard-working Americans ought to be rejoicing. This means that the federal government will no longer micromanage carbon-dioxide emissions.

I cannot stress the importance of this enough. Since 2009, the Endangerment Finding has been utilized as a primary weapon in the climate alarmists’ quest to rid the United States of fossil fuels and regulate the gasoline-powered automobile out of existence.  

By repealing the Endangerment Finding, Trump is basically lobbing a giant wrench into the climate industrial complex. I don’t know if it will ever recover. Nor do I hope it does.

Chris Talgo (ctalgo@heartland.org) is editorial director at The Heartland Institute.

Image: EPA