This commentary is by Beth Zigmund, MD, of South Burlington.
Severe heat, abnormally dry weather, and wildfire smoke have assailed Vermont and much of the U.S. throughout this summer, a testament to the growing menace of climate change. Despite this — and adding to a long list of assaults on public health — President Trump is now using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to aim its sledgehammer at the endangerment finding, the rule which gives the EPA the authority to regulate air-polluting, climate-warming gases.
If President Trump succeeds, Vermonters will be sicker and poorer for generations to come. Now is the time to use our voices to protect this critically important rule.
The endangerment finding
The endangerment finding was issued by the EPA in 2009 to protect the public by regulating six planet-warming gases. The rule rests on a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court decision finding that greenhouse gases are pollutants, leading the EPA to make a science-based determination that they endanger public health under the Clean Air Act. The endangerment finding underpins long standing safeguards, including critical vehicle and power plant emissions standards.
Seemingly unaware of the EPA’s mission to protect public health and the environment, President Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office directing the EPA to review the endangerment finding, arguing that regulating planet-warming fossil fuel emissions is too expensive for the industries causing the pollution. On July 29, the EPA fulfilled the President’s order, and the rule is now under review.
Vermonters should be alarmed by this reckless proposal to place industry profits above the interests of our communities, loved ones and future generations.
The costs of ignoring climate science
The consequences of fossil fuel-driven air pollution and climate change are not theoretical. Air pollution from burning fossil fuels causes between 5–10 million deaths per year globally. Recent floods in Vermont and other states have devastated whole communities. Smoke from climate change-driven wildfires has become a regular feature of Vermont summers, carrying toxic particulate matter linked to premature births, exacerbations of lung and heart diseases, increased risk of dementia and some cancers and premature mortality. Heat-related deaths are expected to increase as extremely hot days become more common. Warmer, more humid weather in our state is creating a vast utopia for dangerous, vector-borne illnesses while also lengthening and intensifying the allergy season.
Poorer mental health is at the nexus of all these climate impacts.
According to the EPA itself, the consequences of climate change and air pollution are disproportionately borne by children, pregnant women, older adults, people with disabilities, low-income communities, people of color and indigenous populations.
Health threats aside, economic facts pour cold water on the Trump Administration’s claim that regulating planet-warming gases is too expensive. The inflation-adjusted economic costs of climate-related events are staggering, totaling $462 billion in the U.S. from 2022-2024.
The American Lung Association estimates that by switching away from fossil fuels to cleaner energy, the U.S. would generate $1.2 trillion in health benefits, while averting 13 million lost workdays, 110,000 premature deaths, and 3 million asthma attacks by 2050. According to the US Department of Energy, moving away from fossil fuels to renewable energy would spur job growth and could position the U.S. as a global leader in designing, manufacturing and deploying renewable energy technologies.
The public wants stronger protections
President Trump’s proposal to gut the EPA’s pollution-regulating authority is wildly out of step with public opinion. People know they sit in the crosshairs of weak public policy on climate change. Polling consistently shows that about two-thirds of Americans believe the government is not doing enough to protect us from climate change. Three-quarters want stricter limits on air pollution. Meanwhile, “climate denialists” are dwindling in number, representing only about 15% of Americans. Vermonters are among the most concerned about climate change in the country.
Despite accelerating climate impacts, broad-based public support for regulating health-damaging climate-warming gases and air pollution, and the rapidly mounting costs of climate-related disasters, the Trump Administration is boldly proceeding with its attack on the endangerment finding and attempting to undo decades of scientific consensus.
Fortunately, there is time to act. The EPA public comment period is open through September 15, 2025. Anyone can comment, no matter what your background. Authentic personal stories about how climate change is affecting you are the most powerful.
For those who want to provide oral testimony, a virtual public hearing will occur from August 19 to August 22, 2025, recently lengthened due to a very high number of registrants. Anyone can sign up to provide oral testimony; oral comments are limited to three minutes or approximately 450 words.
Every written and oral testimonial must be considered in the EPA’s decision. And, if the EPA rescinds the endangerment finding, testimony will serve as evidence in legal challenges to the EPA’s decision.
Please use your voice to protect this vitally important rule, which stands as a bulwark between public health and dangerous, unregulated fossil fuel pollution.
