Julia Kane

Text: American Petroleum Institute SVP of Policy, Economics and Regulatory Affairs Dustin Meyer: “Today’s action appropriately ends the previous administration’s EV mandates, which effectively banned new gas-powered vehicles and represented a clear case of regulatory overreach at the expense of American consumers. We continue to support smart, effective federal regulation of emissions - including methane from oil and gas operations. Our focus now is working on durable policies that reduce emissions while meeting growing energy demand.”

In EPA’s press release on the endangerment finding, API praises the agency’s tailpipe rule repeal, but notably doesn’t mention that EPA just killed the finding that underpins nearly all U.S. climate regs.

Weird, right? Unless API is scared the extreme rollback might backfire...

@fieldnotes.co's thread on how the oil & gas industry pushed EPA to rescind the endangerment finding, but is now scared the extreme rollback could leave it vulnerable to "polluter-pays" laws and lawsuits. ⬇️

@fieldnotes.co's thread on how the oil & gas industry pushed EPA to rescind the endangerment finding, but is now scared the extreme rollback could leave it vulnerable to "polluter-pays" laws and lawsuits. ⬇️

The endangerment finding is EPA’s determination that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare, which is what legally *requires* the federal government to regulate climate pollution under the Clean Air Act. It’s the foundation of U.S. climate regulation.

Citizens Lab for Regulatory Review - Narrative Proposal (Apr. 15, 2022)

This week’s @nytimes.com story on how ultra-conservative activists plotted to wipe out federal climate regs included this doc, obtained by Fieldnotes.

It's a confidential proposal seeking $2 million for a secret effort to draft regs and assemble an “arsenal" of climate denial.

Full proposal here:

The Oil Industry's Latest Disaster: Trillions of Gallons of Buried Toxic Wastewater The Environmental Protection Agency knew long ago that injecting toxic wastewater underground was dangerous. Trump’s EPA continues to claim it’s safe.

New from @rollingstone.com: Documents show industry and regulators knew *decades* ago that injecting toxic liquid waste from oil drilling underground wasn't safe...yet it’s still being dumped below communities nationwide. bit.ly/4aOvoMt

Trump is wiping out all climate regulation. Big Oil may regret it. For decades, oil majors fought climate regulation. Now, they’re afraid Trump’s extreme rollbacks could leave them on the hook to pay for what they’ve done.

Great rundown from @juliakane.bsky.social & @joshvoorhees.bsky.social on how Trump EPA's move to axe the endangerment finding could backfire on #BigOil - by opening them up to greater liability risk

And now Big Oil's friends in Congress are crafting a liability shield

heated.world/p/trump-is-w...

The Secret Plan to End U.S. Climate Regulations

Proud of the research @fieldnotes.co @juliakane.bsky.social @joshvoorhees.bsky.social did that's informing coverage of the endangerment finding repeal today:

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/p...

Trump just killed the EPA’s ability to fight climate change. It may backfire. The EPA’s repeal of the “endangerment finding” could threaten automakers and oil companies — if it survives in court.

Crucial point from @grist.org:

"API pioneered many of the arguments now wielded against the endangerment finding... Trump’s EPA used many of these same arguments in its proposed endangerment finding repeal, demonstrating how much his deregulatory agenda owes to the oil industry’s work."

People briefed on the endangerment finding repeal tell me that it's based on legal arguments only. It doesn't take aim at the actual science of warming.

The repeal could decimate federal climate policy -- if it survives legal challenge.

So, has anyone out there actually seen the text of the endangerment finding rollback? Because they haven't put it out. And I'm told Zeldin might not even have signed it yet?

on Signal at jchemnick.01

In case you haven't already seen this: bsky.app/profile/clim...

Trump just killed the EPA’s ability to fight climate change. It may backfire. The EPA’s repeal of the “endangerment finding” could threaten automakers and oil companies — if it survives in court.

Crucial point from @grist.org:

"API pioneered many of the arguments now wielded against the endangerment finding... Trump’s EPA used many of these same arguments in its proposed endangerment finding repeal, demonstrating how much his deregulatory agenda owes to the oil industry’s work."

Trump is wiping out all climate regulation. Big Oil may regret it. For decades, oil majors fought climate regulation. Now, they’re afraid Trump’s extreme rollbacks could leave them on the hook to pay for what they’ve done.

Wondering why API et al aren't celebrating the end of endangerment?

It's complicated but the short story is the oil majors seem legit spooked this is could come back to bite them in the form of liability lawsuits and state superfund laws:

heated.world/p/trump-is-w...

Screenshot of article reads: Nevertheless, API pioneered many of the arguments now wielded against the endangerment finding. In 1999, the group held a meeting of industry lobbyists who strategized challenges to an early EPA proposal to regulate greenhouse gases, according to documents first reported by DeSmog and compiled by Fieldnotes, a research group focused on the oil and gas industry. At the meeting, the API circulated a legal analysis noting that there is “no clear-cut, explicit answer in statute” on the greenhouse gas question, and that “CO2 does not endanger public health and welfare and there are no cost-effective systems of emission control.” In 2008, after the Massachusetts decision, the group argued that the EPA had not produced “sufficient evidence of potential effects and harm,” and it opposed reducing tailpipe emissions in the U.S. on the grounds that this would not end climate change on its own.

Via @grist.org:

grist.org/politics/tru...

Mandy Gunasekara Paid @MississippiMG This is an amazing turn by @washingtonpost . Great job by WH/EPA press team that worked this piece. Finally some sanity 👉 “For now, free-market-driven innovation has done more to combat climate change than regulatory power grabs like the “endangerment finding” ever did.”

"Great job by WH/EPA press team that worked this piece"

from lunatic climate denier Mandy Gunasekara, one of the architects of the illegal reversal of the greenhouse pollution endangerment finding

My household is supporting a South Minneapolis family unable to work or leave home due to ICE. If we can raise some or all of their $1600 rent, we can avoid drawing from high-demand assistance funds and ensure there's more to go around.

Venmo @karleekarleekarlee with 🏠 in the memo to help.

Trump is wiping out all climate regulation. Big Oil may regret it. For decades, oil majors fought climate regulation. Now, they’re afraid Trump’s extreme rollbacks could leave them on the hook to pay for what they’ve done.

Tomorrow, the Trump admin is expected to repeal the endangerment finding—a huge blow to U.S. climate regulation.

But it also might backfire on the oil & gas industry.

@joshvoorhees.bsky.social and I wrote about it in collab w/ @emorwee.bsky.social for HEATED:

Trump is wiping out all climate regulation. Big Oil may regret it. For decades, oil majors fought climate regulation. Now, they’re afraid Trump’s extreme rollbacks could leave them on the hook to pay for what they’ve done.

Trump is wiping out all climate regulation. Big Oil may regret it.

By @juliakane.bsky.social and @joshvoorhees.bsky.social
#climatecrisis
heated.world/cp/187577268

New collaboration by @fieldnotes.co and @emorwee.bsky.social of HEATED. The endangerment finding is set to be revoked this Thursday by the Trump administration. Oil majors should be happy, right? Read the story here: https://heated.world/cp/187577268

Trump is wiping out all climate regulation. Big Oil may regret it. For decades, oil majors fought climate regulation. Now, they’re afraid Trump’s extreme rollbacks could leave them on the hook to pay for what they’ve done.

Great points. Just wrote about the first one for HEATED: heated.world/p/trump-is-w...

Trump is wiping out all climate regulation. Big Oil may regret it. For decades, oil majors fought climate regulation. Now, they’re afraid Trump’s extreme rollbacks could leave them on the hook to pay for what they’ve done.

"Oil corporations have realized that repealing the endangerment finding could backfire, leaving them more vulnerable to accountability than ever before.” I agree with this analysis. API has a plan, which sounds good until they get punched in the mouth. heated.world/p/trump-is-w...

Trump is wiping out all climate regulation. Big Oil may regret it. For decades, oil majors fought climate regulation. Now, they’re afraid Trump’s extreme rollbacks could leave them on the hook to pay for what they’ve done.

The oil industry is 🩴🩴-ing & 🧇-ing on endangerment—despite putting the reversal in motion almost 20 years ago.

@juliakane.bsky.social & I explain why in HEATED. Spoiler: industry is spooked—not about our health, about their $$$.

heated.world/p/trump-is-w... > @fieldnotes.co + @emorwee.bsky.social

New investigation out today by @nytimes.com highlighting the four Trump administration veterans working behind the scenes to gut climate regulations. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/climate/endangerment-finding.html

A Campaign to Revoke the Endangerment Finding Appears Near ‘Total Victory’ A small group of conservative activists has worked for 16 years to stop all government efforts to fight climate change. Their efforts seem poised to pay off.

A group of conservative activists has worked for 16 years to stop all government efforts to fight climate change. Their efforts are now paying off.

The EPA is expected to revoke the endangerment finding, which has underpinned the government’s ability to fight global warming since 2009.

Trump Allies Near ‘Total Victory’ in Wiping Out U.S. Climate Regulation

NEW: NYT has a behind-the-scenes look at how ideologues within the Trump admin plotted for years to kill the endangerment finding—the foundation of nearly all U.S. climate regulation.

Featuring documents obtained by @fieldnotes.co.

Trump Allies Near ‘Total Victory’ in Wiping Out U.S. Climate Regulation

These zealots’ “total victory” will collapse in court. Climate science is “beyond dispute,” says the National Academy of Sciences. And the Clean Air Act “unambiguously” authorizes EPA to curb climate pollution, the Supreme Court has ruled.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/c...

Trump Allies Near ‘Total Victory’ in Wiping Out U.S. Climate Regulation

Great reporting by @nytimes.com Lisa Friedman and @maxinejoselow.bsky.social on the long campaign by four hardcore climate deniers to take down the Endangerment Finding. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/c...

Trump Allies Near ‘Total Victory’ in Wiping Out U.S. Climate Regulation

NEW: NYT has a behind-the-scenes look at how ideologues within the Trump admin plotted for years to kill the endangerment finding—the foundation of nearly all U.S. climate regulation.

Featuring documents obtained by @fieldnotes.co.

YouTube video by Evan Greer Evan Greer - "You Will Have to Come Through Us" [Tiny Desk 2026]

Snuck it in right before the deadline, here's my entry to Tiny Desk 2026: an easy-to-learn protest song that I hope is useful to folks on the ground protecting their neighbors and fighting fascists.