No one voted for dirty air and a broken climate

For more than 15 years, one scientific determination has formed the legal backbone of federal climate protections in the United States.

Today, the Trump administration repealed it.

This reversal isn’t a regulatory tweak. It’s this administration’s declaration that climate change doesn’t exist, and that the federal government has no role in addressing the pollution and industries that cause it.

Known as the ‘endangerment finding,’ this rule recognizes what decades of science make clear: climate pollution harms people.

Nowhere are the consequences more apparent than in the South where my own hometown of Asheville, North Carolina, is still struggling to recover from Hurricane Helene, a storm that was intensified by climate change. 

From chronic flooding along our coasts, to extreme heat that endangers workers and seniors, to worsening smog that aggravates asthma — communities across our region are grappling with the impacts of a warming planet every day. 

But while the Trump administration works to move us backwards, our communities are moving forward. And so is SELC.

We are defending our bedrock environmental laws in court. We are challenging a reckless methane gas buildout and the data centers that are driving it. We are progressing state-level climate policy that will make our communities more resilient. And we are protecting clean air, clean water, and a livable climate for the next generation. 

This administration is playing the short game, but we are in this for the long haul. 

No one voted for dirty air or a broken climate, and SELC is ready — as we have been for the last 40 years — to fight for our region and begin a new era of federal climate protections. 

The science has not changed and our commitment to protecting Southern communities has not changed. Together, we can build a climate movement that endures across the South and the country.