The Trump administration’s revocation of a scientific finding that climate change is a danger to public health is likely to affect communities of color the most. Extensive research has found that Black, Latino, Indigenous and other racial and ethnic groups are more vulnerable to the health consequences from climate change than white people. The Environmental Protection Agency, in a 2021 report, concluded the same. That EPA report found, for example, that Black people were 40% more likely to live in places with the highest projected increases in deaths because of extreme heat driven by climate change.

Some Republican legislators are pushing to limit state environmental regulations. Alabama lawmakers approved legislation Tuesday limiting state agencies from adopting pollution rules stricter than federal standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency. It follows efforts by the Trump administration to roll back rules at the agency. The Alabama measure would allow new state pollution limits only if there is a direct link between exposure and bodily harm. Supporters say the bill reduces regulatory burdens and aligns with President Donald Trump’s deregulatory agenda. Environmental groups and Democrats say the bill prioritizes industry over public health. The bill now goes to Gov. Kay Ivey.

A coalition of health and environmental groups is suing the Environmental Protection Agency, challenging the rescinding of a scientific finding that has been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change. A rule finalized by the EPA rescinded a 2009 government declaration known as the endangerment finding that determined that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare. The Obama-era finding is the legal underpinning of nearly all climate regulations under the Clean Air Act for motor vehicles, power plants and other pollution sources that are heating the planet. The lawsuit filed Wednesday calls the EPA's action unlawful and says the finding supported common sense safeguards to cut climate pollution.

While announcing that he was rolling back the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2009 endangerment finding, President Donald Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin made false claims regarding the government declaration, climate change and energy. For example, he said the finding has no basis in fact, but it followed a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that greenhouse gases are air pollutants that can be regulated under the Clean Air Act. Trump also made false claims about the effects of climate change, the cost of wind energy and the idea of an electric vehicle mandate.

Last year, an explosion at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works outside Pittsburgh killed two U.S. Steel workers and injured 11 others, including contractors. Six months later, workers remain rattled and community concerns about air pollution from the plant are heightened. The blast comes on top of a string of other accidents at the Clairton plant over time as well as a long history of legal battles between U.S. Steel and Allegheny County regulators. Some current and former workers at Clairton Coke Works say poor management and underinvestment have exacerbated air pollution and undermined workplace safety at the plant where operators already have little margin for error. That's according to reporting from Pittsburgh’s Public Source and The Associated Press.

The White House says the Trump administration will revoke a scientific finding that long has been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change. The Environmental Protection Agency will issue a final rule Thursday rescinding a 2009 government declaration known as the endangerment finding. The Obama-era policy determined that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare. Legal challenges are certain. The White House says the action “will be the largest deregulatory action in American history" and will save as much as $1.3 trillion in avoided regulations. Environmental groups called the shift the single biggest attack in U.S. history on federal efforts to address climate change.