New York climate advocates are disturbed by the Trump administration’s decision to revoke a key legal finding stating that climate change impacts public health.
The 2009 Endangerment Finding has served as the basis for national efforts to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and build more clean energy. The administration claims revoking the finding will lower transportation and energy costs.
Adrienne Esposito, executive director of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, said this new directive has no basis in reality.
“These air pollutants do contribute to poor air quality throughout America,” she said, “and poorer air quality means more respiratory ailments, more childhood asthma, more premature heart attacks, and more deaths.”
A United Hospital Fund report finds New York’s costs of climate-related health events and lost wages from excess heat will be two to three times those associated with the flu. It also found nationwide impacts of climate change in 2050 could include up to $45 billion in health care costs.
Lawsuits challenging the decision are expected from several state attorneys general to counteract this. Should the decision remain, numerous programs to reduce emissions would end.
Esposito said this flies in the face of data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showing New York experienced 95 “billion-dollar disasters” between 1980 and 2024. She added that this change was shocking, given the progress that’s been made on reducing emissions.
“We’ve been promoting such things as fuel efficiency, which saves money and reduces air pollution; renewable energy technologies, which has advanced leaps and bounds,” she said. “We have made progress on building electric cars and using advanced technology.”
Clean energy is something of a hard sell, given it has high up-front costs. Power companies often pass these on to consumers through rate hikes. Yet, polls show renewable-energy sources are still more widely favored compared with fossil fuels despite cost concerns.
Edwin is a reporter and producer in North Tonawanda, New York. He’s previously reported for the Niagara Gazette and the Ithaca Times. Edwin got an early start in radio interning for WBFO-88.7FM, NPR’s Buffalo affiliate. In 2018, he graduated from SUNY Buffalo State College with a B.A. in Journalism, and in 2022, graduated from Syracuse University with an M.S. in Communications.