PCFO Statement on EPA’s Repeal of the Endangerment Finding

At a time when families and local governments are already stretched thin by rising costs, the U.S. EPA has chosen to make pollution cheaper for polluters and pass the cost on to local communities.

Power a Clean Future Ohio condemns the EPA’s decision to repeal the endangerment finding. This decision disregards settled law to benefit major polluters while shifting the financial burden onto communities that can least afford it.

Rolling back pollution safeguards does not eliminate costs – it simply transfers them. Increased emissions mean increased bills. Communities and taxpayers will pay more to maintain and repair infrastructure damaged by more frequent and severe weather events. Public health systems will shoulder rising costs from heat waves, poor air quality, and illnesses.

Ohio’s local governments are already projected to face an additional $5.9 billion per year in climate-related costs by midcentury. Cities, villages, and counties already navigating tight budgets and competing priorities cannot absorb another unfunded mandate created by federal inaction.

This decision does not make climate risks disappear. It simply ensures that local taxpayers, not polluters, will pay the price.