How EPA emissions rule change will affect New Mexico still up in the air

The Trump administration this week revoked a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule that served as the foundation for regulating greenhouse gas emissions. What that could mean for New Mexico and whether the decision will hold up under court challenges is still unclear.

“Today, the federal government destroyed decades of established policies grounded in hard science recognized by the American and global scientific community,” New Mexico Environment Secretary James Kenney said in a statement Thursday, when the change was announced. “As a science-based organization working to help New Mexicans breathe cleaner air and drink cleaner water, we are in a moment of mourning and an ever-greater need for bold state action.”

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s administration will continue working on climate solutions, he said.

The endangerment finding was a 2009 EPA rule that six greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are a threat to public health and the welfare of future generations and that emissions of those greenhouse gases from new motor vehicles contribute to greenhouse gas pollution.

President Donald Trump said the original rule “has nothing to do with public health. This is all a scam, a giant scam.” 

The scientific consensus that human-caused emissions of greenhouse gasses are causing climate change has only grown stronger since 2009, said New Mexico State Climatologist Dave DuBois. Many peer reviewed scientific studies have connected climate change to human health, including a study published in Nature Climate Change last year that calculated health costs from climate change are at least $10 billion annually.

“The endangerment finding has been the source of 16 years of consumer choice restrictions and trillions of dollars in hidden costs for Americans,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement.

The EPA touted the change as a way to restore consumer choice, make more affordable vehicles available and decrease the cost of living on all products “by lowering the cost of trucks,” in a news release. “This is the single largest deregulatory action in U.S. history and will save Americans over $1.3 trillion,” the EPA said in announcing the recision. 

From an auto dealer standpoint, revoking the endangerment finding “doesn’t change what’s on lots tomorrow, but it does create uncertainty long-term,” Adelina Torres Arreola, the New Mexico Automotive Industry Alliance’s chief communications officer, said in a statement.

“The auto industry needs stable rules so manufacturers can plan and consumers can shop with confidence and still have options,” Torres Arreola said.

The endangerment finding was spurred by a 2007 Supreme Court decision that found greenhouse gases are air pollutants covered by the Clean Air Act and that the EPA has authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from mobile sources, like cars, trains and airplanes.

“It's really important for things like fuel efficiency,” said University of New Mexico law professor Clifford Villa. “Anyone who drives a car has probably already benefited from the endangerment finding.”

If the change stays in place “it’s definitely going to cost people money,” he said.

States and environmental groups are planning to sue over the rule change.

The rule itself was released Friday and does not appear to question that greenhouse gasses and burning fossil fuels contribute to climate change or that climate change is happening.

“It really seems that EPA’s argument is that no matter what we do, all is lost,” Villa said. “That we can't make any regulations that will have any difference in the global climate. It's sort of a defeatist argument.”

The new EPA rule also argues that Congress did not give the agency authority to regulate greenhouse gasses in the first place, something there are good legal arguments against, Villa said. The Supreme Court would have to reverse its own 2007 decision that the EPA has authority to regulate greenhouse gases, which isn’t easy to do, he said.

“It's going to be a really difficult argument to explain why three presidents and the U.S. Supreme Court were all wrong when they have already decided this question,” Villa said.

States can and do set their own air pollution regulations, including in New Mexico. The New Mexico Environment Department is still working to identify any gaps in emissions enforcement or data gathering the repeal could open. NMED has not confirmed how many, if any, exist, according to department  spokesman Drew Goretzka.

The rule change came at an already painful political moment for New Mexico environmental advocates, as a bill that would’ve placed greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals in state law died in the state Senate on Wednesday.

“To receive the news about the endangerment finding was a huge blow, because now it's going to be up to us to try again and get some policy over the finish line,” said Demis Foster, chief executive officer of Conservation Voters New Mexico.