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The Trump administration on Thursday revoked a scientific finding that climate change is a danger to public health, an idea that President Donald Trump called “a scam.” But repeated scientific studies say it’s a documented and quantifiable harm. Again and again, research has found increasing disease and deaths — thousands every year — in a warming world. The Environmental Protection Agency finding in 2009, under the Obama administration, has been the legal underpinning of nearly all regulations fighting global warming. (Borenstein, 2/12)

By scrapping the finding, the Trump administration is essentially disputing the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change. The vast majority of scientists say the Earth is rapidly and dangerously warming, which is fueling more powerful storms, killing coral reefs, melting glaciers and causing countless other destructive impacts. Here’s what you should know about the endangerment finding and why it matters. (Friedman and Joselow, 2/12)

In an unusual move, the president of EPA’s biggest staff union issued a statement blasting the administration for siding with “powerful corporate polluters” on climate change. “This is a deep betrayal of the EPA’s mission and duty to protect public health and safety, and Americans will pay the price,” said Justin Chen, an environmental engineer at EPA and president of AFGE Council 238, which represents thousands of EPA workers nationwide. (Guillén, 2/12)

The administration’s move may well backfire. Legal experts say that regulating carbon dioxide is well-supported by the text of the Clean Air Act — a fact that even the conservative Supreme Court has recognized in multiple cases, suggesting the court could rule against the administration if the repeal winds up on their docket. (A coalition of health groups has already announced its intent to sue.) And even if the court did affirm that the federal government can no longer regulate greenhouse gases under existing law, states and private parties would have an open lane to set their own greenhouse gas rules or sue over the harms caused by climate change, respectively, given that they would no longer be preempted by federal authority. That would create regulatory chaos, potentially forcing Congress to restore the EPA’s authority. (Bittle, 2/12)

President Trump on Wednesday directed the Pentagon to start buying more electricity from coal-burning power plants as part of his efforts to revive the declining coal industry. Environmental and public health groups have sharply criticized the administration’s efforts to bring back coal. “The Trump administration is using our tax dollars to prop up the nation’s dirtiest, least efficient power plants," said Manish Bapna, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council. “The rest of us are left to pay the price: more heart disease and asthma attacks, higher utility bills, and more frequent unnatural disasters." (Plumer, 2/11)