Losing the Endangerment Finding: What Are the Costs and Benefits of Deregulation?

In February 2026, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) repealed the endangerment finding—the federal government’s formal scientific determination that greenhouse gases endanger public health. In the same action, EPA repealed all federal greenhouse gas emissions standards for vehicles that were issued as a direct result of the endangerment finding. EPA has also proposed the repeal of greenhouse gas standards placed on the power sector.

The federal government’s actions paint a stark and troublesome picture for the future of air quality, climate change, and public health in the United States. But it is difficult to truly understand what may be to come because of federal decisions to ignore the public health benefits of regulations supported by the endangerment finding.

Researchers at Resources for the Future (RFF) are working to bring the true regulatory benefits and costs to light. Our forthcoming framework—created through rigorous analysis consistent with standard economic guidance—will help policymakers, academics, advocates, and public health experts understand how endangerment finding–related rollbacks will affect the well-being of everyday Americans.

Over the summer, the team will publish several blog posts highlighting the consequences of regulatory rollbacks on the light-duty vehicle sector and power sector. Later this year, RFF will publish a report detailing the health, environmental, and economic impacts of these deregulatory actions.

Read more about the scope of the project and its methodology in the introductory blog post. 

If you have questions about the project, contact RFF Fellow Kristen McCormack at [email protected].

EPA estimates that the repeal of Biden-era greenhouse gas standards for vehicles will save Americans money. The first analysis in this series shows that the repeal will actually cost Americans more than $800 billion over the next two and a half decades.

BenMAP Analytics, an advisory group cofounded by RFF Senior Fellow Bryan Hubbell, will assist with modeling the effects of deregulation. The experts at BenMAP Analytics will apply open-source analytical tools that they developed while at EPA to calculate the economic value of air-quality changes down to the county level.

RFF researchers are also partnering with the American Lung Association to help communicate the results of this project. The American Lung Association is a public health-focused organization which focuses on improving public health through education, advocacy, and research.