Why the EPA’s Reversal of the Endangerment Finding Matters for Public Health and Nursing

Nurses have long recognized that environmental conditions shape health outcomes. Factors like air quality, heat exposure, housing, and infrastructure all play a role in who becomes ill, who recovers, and which communities are at the greatest risk for health harms. On February 12, 2026, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a rule reversing its determination that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions endanger public health and welfare (National Archives Federal Register, 2025). This determination, commonly known as the Endangerment Finding, has acted as the primary driver of federal-level climate protections since its creation in 2009. This reversal will have significant impacts when it comes to population health, health equity, and conditions under which care is administered.

The Endangerment Finding originates from the Clean Air Act, which requires the EPA to regulate air pollutants that pose a measurable danger to public health or welfare. In 2009, following extensive research and review of scientific evidence, the EPA concluded that six greenhouse gases meet this standard: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) (Environmental Protection Agency, 2025b). The finding established the government’s responsibility to protect communities from climate-related harm. The EPA’s 2026 reversal asserts that greenhouse gases no longer satisfy the legal definition of “endangerment” (Environmental Protection Agency, 2026, National Archives Federal Register, 2026). This stance substantially weakens the agency’s ability to act on climate-related issues, despite the fact that they grow more pressing every year.

The legal foundation supporting the Endangerment Finding is strong and has been used to guide agency action for years. In Massachusetts v. EPA (2007), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that greenhouse gases fit the description of air pollutants under the Clean Air Act, and thus the EPA must regulate them if they are found to endanger public health or welfare (Justia, 2007). Since that 2007 decision, federal courts have repeatedly affirmed the EPA’s authority to regulate climate pollution through their judgments. The Endangerment Finding, which was created in accordance with Massachusetts v. EPA, followed a meticulous rule-making process, relied on decades of peer-reviewed research, and withstood numerous legal challenges. For those working to protect public health, the established precedent matters because it reinforces the idea that safeguarding communities from climate-related harm is not discretionary. It is a legal obligation.

Since 2009, the scientific evidence upholding the Endangerment Finding has only grown stronger. Climate change is driven primarily by human-created greenhouse gas emissions, and its effects on human health are well documented. Greenhouse gases lead to rising global temperatures, with higher temperatures increasing rates of heat-related illness and death. Worsening air quality from more intense wildfires exacerbates asthma and other cardiovascular diseases. Extreme weather events contribute to food and water insecurity and place a strain on mental and physical health through displacement, loss, and repeated exposure to disaster (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2024; Environmental Protection Agency, 2025a). Climate-driven disasters are becoming more frequent, severe, and lead to illness, injury, displacement, and loss of life, all while further burdening the healthcare system. The economic consequences of climate change, including rising health care costs, lost labor productivity, and increased insurance costs and instability all magnify negative health impacts. (Climate Central, n.d.). The rollback of the Endangerment Finding threatens to further slow progress on reducing climate impacts, even though this matter is more urgent than ever.

Coupled with the repeal of the Endangerment Finding, EPA repealed all standards that regulate GHGs from motor vehicles. Transportation continues to be the largest contributor to GHGs in the U.S., accounting for about 30 percent of the national total (Environmental Protection Agency, 2025a). Pollution from cars and trucks disproportionately impacts communities close to highways and ports. These communities are often low-income and communities of color. These groups face higher exposure to harmful pollutants and elevated risks from climate-driven hazards. This worsens the burden of respiratory disease, cardiovascular harm, and other preventable health conditions, which worsen existing health inequities (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2024).

Health professionals, especially nurses, play a crucial role in addressing these challenges. Nurses are often on the front lines of responding to climate-related health impacts. Nursing voices are essential in reinforcing three major points: (1) the law supporting climate protections is strong, (2) the science linking greenhouse gas pollution to health harms is clear, and (3) the consequences of climate change are already being felt by communities across the country and will only get worse over time without action.

The Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments has launched a storytelling campaign featuring nursing voices across the country to emphasize that climate change threatens public health and how rolling back health protections, such as the Endangerment Finding and tailpipe emissions standards, will harm health. The reversal of the Endangerment Finding is a public health issue with direct, measurable impacts on health systems, communities, and the professionals who care for them. Join nurses across the country in calling for clean air and climate protections. You can share your story by submitting a video or testimonial via this form: https://bit.ly/40tnDWm.

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024, March 21). Climate and infectious diseases. https://www.cdc.gov/ncezid/topics-programs/climate-infectious-disease.html

Climate Central. (n.d.). U.S. billion-dollar weather and climate disasters. https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-services/billion-dollar-disasters

Justia. (2007). Massachusetts v. EPA, 549 U.S. 497 (2007). https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/549/497/

National Archives, Federal Register. (2026). Reconsideration of the 2009 endangerment finding and greenhouse gas vehicle standards. https://bit.ly/4b4JFol
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2025a, March 31). Sources of greenhouse gas emissions. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2025b, December 29). Overview of Greenhouse Gases. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/overview-greenhouse-gases

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2026, February 13). President Trump and Administrator Zeldin deliver single largest deregulatory action in U.S. history https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/president-trump-and-administrator-zeldin-deliver-single-largest-deregulatory-action-us