Failure to fight climate-changing greenhouse gases comes with generational consequences

The current administration’s repeal of the 2009 “endangerment finding” will have cascading and catastrophic effects on all of us. By prioritizing corporate profits over public health, we will all suffer. 

The administration’s unfortunate and misguided view of climate change as a hoax or con job is disturbing, and if allowed to stand (after the anticipated legal battles) will affect all of us in the short term and our children for generations to come. 

The endangerment finding established that the earth’s heating from greenhouse gas pollution was harming human health and well-being and therefore qualified for restrictions under the Clean Air Act of 1970. The current proposal would erase all restrictions on pollution limitations on car and truck tailpipes, power plants, pipelines and drilling facilities. The previous safeguards reduced smog and soot-forming pollution as well as greenhouse gases. The new proposal would severely limit the federal government and Environmental Protection Agency’s legal authority to control pollution while at the same time increasing climate pollution by as much as 18 billion metric tons (about three times the total emitted by the U.S. in 2025 alone).

The earth is heating up at an unprecedented pace. The last 10 years have been the hottest in recorded history. The past three-year average has surpassed the targets (1.5 degrees Celsius or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) established by the Paris Accord as potential tipping points for the planet. First and foremost, there are also increasing numbers of hospitalizations and unnecessary deaths from excessive heat exposure. And sadly, those most affected are generally in marginalized communities. Environmental injustice (like the West side versus East side of Salt Lake City) is painfully typified by ZIP code being one of the major predictors of an individual’s health and well-being.

Climate-driven extreme weather events are placing financial burdens on Americans by raising homeowners’ insurance premiums. At the same time, home values have dropped in areas deemed disaster prone or at high risk. Major insurance carriers have simply dropped several higher risk locations.

Globally, we are now facing an increasing number and intensity of droughts, wildfires, sea level rise, glaciers and sea ice melting, and worsening and intensifying hurricanes and typhoons. We have also witnessed significant population migration as communities search for safer areas to live.

In Utah as of February 2026, 94% of the state is in drought conditions with 40% in a severe drought. Our snowpack is the lowest on record as of Feb. 1 at approximately 56% of median. Snowpack is responsible for 95% of our water supply. Both Lake Mead and Lake Powell are at historically low levels (2/3 empty) and if the trend continues, both the Hoover and Glen Canyon dams may not be able to generate power. Negotiations between the Colorado River’s Upper Basin states (including Utah) and Lower Basin states ended on the Feb. 14 deadline without an agreement on how to proceed.

The harms of air pollution have been well established by more than 70,000 studies over the last 40 years. The effects of exposure to air pollution lead to increasing numbers of emergency room visits for shortness of breath and exacerbation of asthma. There is also a correlation with increased cardiovascular events, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, ADHD and autism, besides an increased risk of losing a pregnancy, infertility and babies being born pre-term.

In January Salt Lake City experienced a prolonged inversion and had the worst air quality in the country and one of the worst in the entire world.

These increased health care costs must be considered as the administration moves to ignore the basic science that has been well established for years.

Our reliance on fossil fuels must change. Renewable energy sources such as solar and wind are abundant and affordable. The prices of battery storage as well as solar and wind have plummeted in recent years. Based on economics alone, the path forward is clear. We should not be beholden to special interest groups like the oil and gas industries.

The International Energy Agency has determined that we have all the technology needed to reduce emissions 50% in this decade. This new move by the administration will make this a much tougher challenge. It is time for all of us to speak out and prioritize the health of our communities. Contact your legislators, both locally and at the federal level.

Remember, you’re not alone. More than 80% of people globally want their country to do more (not less) on climate change, the United Nations Development Programme’s People’s Climate Vote 2024 found, and 59% of Americans believe global warming is mostly human caused and not “natural,” according to the Yale Climate Survey.

Think global and act local!