Mr. Zeldin, Will You Rescue America From the EPA’s Climate Fraud?

How the U.S. Can End the Climate Hysteria with One Move

One bureaucratic decision unleashed the climate hysteria that has hijacked our economy, gutted industries, and warped environmental priorities for over a decade. That decision? The EPA’s 2009 ruling that declared CO2, a gas essential to all life, a pollutant. Now, Lee Zeldin has the power to erase it with the stroke of a pen. Will he?

The Origins: Massachusetts v. EPA and the 2009 Ruling

The foundation for this regulatory disaster was laid in 2007 when the Supreme Court ruled in Massachusetts v. EPA that greenhouse gases, including CO2, could be considered pollutants under the Clean Air Act if they were found to endanger public health or welfare. This case stemmed from a lawsuit by twelve states and several environmental groups, arguing that the EPA had a duty to regulate CO2 emissions from vehicles.

The ruling was a gift to climate alarmists, but it still required the EPA to determine whether CO2 met the criteria of a harmful pollutant. In 2009, under the Obama administration, the EPA issued its infamous "Endangerment Finding," declaring that CO2 and other greenhouse gases posed a threat to public health. This ruling gave the EPA sweeping power to regulate CO2 emissions across industries, despite the fact that CO2 neither poisons air nor contaminates water, unlike actual pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, mercury, or lead. It’s not a pollutant; it’s plant food. The entire premise is fraudulent, yet it granted unelected bureaucrats sweeping control over the backbone of modern civilization… energy.

Scalia Saw Right Through It

Justice Antonin Scalia saw through this charade. He dissented in Massachusetts v. EPA, arguing that CO2 does not fit the legal definition of a pollutant. The Clean Air Act was designed to regulate substances that make air “dirty” in a way that directly harms human health. Scalia dismantled this absurdity. The Clean Air Act was meant to target real contaminants, substances that make air dangerous to breathe, not the very molecule that sustains plant life. If CO2 is a 'pollutant,' then every human breath is an environmental violation. By that logic, we should regulate forests, volcanoes, and the oceans themselves. The entire regulatory framework was built on a foundation of deception.

To put this in perspective, was the air somehow "unclean" 100 million years ago when CO2 levels were five times what they are today? Were the dinosaurs suffocating under an EPA violation because CO2 levels were at 2,000 ppm? Was it their gas-guzzling SUVs that made the Cretaceous air "unclean"? The entire premise collapses under scrutiny, yet it remains the backbone of the regulatory grip that has stifled American industry.

The End of Chevron: The EPA’s Authority is Now in Question

For years, this regulatory overreach was justified by the Chevron doctrine, which allowed federal agencies to interpret vague laws as they saw fit. But as I recently covered in my article on the Supreme Court’s Loper Bright and Relentless cases, that doctrine is now dead. Agencies no longer have the unilateral authority to twist legislative language into whatever fits their agenda.

For decades, Chevron was the legal loophole that let unelected bureaucrats dictate policy without Congressional approval. But that shield is gone. The Supreme Court just stripped the EPA of its ability to twist vague laws into regulatory weapons. The Clean Air Act never classified CO2 as a pollutant, that was the EPA’s own fabrication. And without Chevron, that fabrication no longer has legal cover. Their authority isn’t just in jeopardy. It’s gone. Without Chevron, Congress must explicitly make that determination, and good luck convincing Americans that CO2 is a "pollutant" while every human breathes out 40,000 ppm of it.

The Real Impact: Wasted Focus and Rising Costs

The consequences of the 2009 ruling extend far beyond climate rhetoric. In a recent conversation with professionals in the PVC industry, they described how a huge portion of their focus is now diverted to meaningless “decarbonization” efforts. Meanwhile, real pollution like microplastics in drinking water, toxic heavy metals, and actual air contaminants, get ignored. Instead, entire industries are forced to burn billions at the altar of ‘decarbonization.’

This obsession with CO2 has actively harmed environmental progress by shifting attention away from actual pollutants. It has also driven up costs across manufacturing, energy, and transportation. These policies provide zero benefit to the bottom line of companies or to public health, yet they are enforced with religious fervor by regulatory agencies.

A Simple Solution: Rescind the 2009 Endangerment Finding

By revoking the 2009 Endangerment Finding, the EPA would no longer have the authority to regulate CO2 as a pollutant. This would immediately:

• End the regulatory strangulation of American industry

• Refocus environmental efforts on real pollution concerns

• Lower costs for businesses and consumers

• Remove the primary justification for destructive climate policies

This single move would send the climate-industrial complex into a tailspin, forcing politicians and activists to defend their entire narrative without the legal scaffolding propping it up. If Congress wants to regulate CO2, let them make their case explicitly, not through unelected bureaucrats redefining basic chemistry.

Ending the climate hysteria is not a decade-long battle. It does not require endless debates or slow, incremental progress. The legal justification for these policies is built on a single, fraudulent ruling. Remove it, and the house of cards collapses instantly.

The real question isn’t whether Lee Zeldin can do this, it’s whether he will. The climate-industrial complex will fight like hell to keep its golden goose alive, but the truth is on our side. The science isn’t settled. The legal foundation is crumbling. And the American people are sick of paying the price for this fraud.

It’s time to stop playing defense and go on offense. Rescind the 2009 ruling. End the hysteria. Take back our economy.