“Trump is selling out our kids’ future so his fossil fuel billionaire friends can get even richer,” Senator Bernie Sanders said, condemning President Trump’s repeal of the Obama-era endangerment finding, a long-standing scientific determination that greenhouse gas emissions threaten human health and the environment. Sanders called the move a direct attack on climate protection, emphasizing the need to shift the nation’s energy system away from fossil fuels and toward sustainable sources.
Trump is selling out our kids’ future so his fossil fuel billionaire friends can get even richer.
— Sen. Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) February 15, 2026
The science is clear. Climate change is an existential threat to the planet.
We must transform our energy system away from fossil fuels and into sustainable energies. pic.twitter.com/27zn3YAJNb
The president announced that his administration would erase the scientific finding, effectively ending the federal government’s legal authority to regulate carbon dioxide, methane, and four other greenhouse gases. The repeal removes limits on pollutants that scientists say are driving heat waves, droughts, wildfires, and other extreme weather events, reversing a policy that has guided decades of environmental regulation.
“This is about as big as it gets,” Trump said at the White House, labeling the rule a “disastrous Obama-era policy” and the foundation for what he calls the “Green New Scam.” Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, standing alongside Trump, described the action as “the single largest deregulatory action in the history of the United States,” claiming it would save businesses an estimated $1 trillion while ending what he called an ideological crusade that “strangled entire sectors of the United States economy.”
Trump Announces Termination of EPA’s “Endangerment Finding,” Calls It a Blow to Climate Bureaucracy
— Washington Eye (@washington_EY) February 13, 2026
Declaring the Obama-era policy “disastrous,” Trump says ending the Endangerment Finding will free the auto industry from costly mandates and ease price pressures on consumers… pic.twitter.com/fQJHz6xmdq
Former President Barack Obama also criticized the repeal, calling it a setback for climate protection and public safety. “Without it, we’ll be less safe, less healthy and less able to fight climate change — all so the fossil fuel industry can make even more money,” Obama wrote in a social media post. The endangerment finding, first issued in 2009, had been the basis for regulating emissions from automobiles, power plants, and oil and gas operations. Its repeal marks a sharp departure from decades of bipartisan acknowledgment of climate risks.
Today, the Trump administration repealed the endangerment finding: the ruling that served as the basis for limits on tailpipe emissions and power plant rules. Without it, we’ll be less safe, less healthy and less able to fight climate change — all so the fossil fuel industry can…
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) February 12, 2026
Sanders echoed these concerns, warning that the decision prioritizes fossil fuel profits over the well-being of future generations. “The science is clear. Climate change is an existential threat to the planet. We must transform our energy system away from fossil fuels and into sustainable energies,” he said. The senator framed the policy reversal as part of a broader pattern in which wealthy interests exert outsized influence over the nation’s political and economic decisions.
Experts have warned that eliminating the endangerment finding could increase U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 10 percent over the next 30 years, potentially causing up to 58,000 premature deaths and 37 million additional asthma attacks by 2055.
The repeal represents a major shift in U.S. climate policy, undermining a scientific consensus that has guided regulatory actions for nearly two decades. Critics argue it threatens to slow the nation’s transition to renewable energy, intensifying climate risks at a time when extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and severe. Sanders’ remarks in response reflect a continued push from progressive lawmakers to hold fossil fuel interests accountable while advocating for a transition to clean, sustainable energy sources.
