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This analysis and news roundup come from the Canary Media Weekly newsletter. Sign up to get it every Friday.
“🚨Single. Largest. Deregulatory. Action. EVER. Incoming: TOMORROW!”
That quote comes from an X post made by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin on Wednesday. Sure enough, the next day, Zeldin officially unveiled the subject of this WrestleMania-esque hype: The Trump administration has revoked the scientific basis for the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions in America.
For 16 years, a scientific determination known as the “endangerment finding” has served as the backbone of U.S. policies to reduce emissions, allowing the EPA to put limits on planet-warming and health-harming pollution from vehicles, power plants, and other industrial sources of greenhouse gases.
There’s no doubt this will go to the courts. In fact, the finding itself has its roots in the legal system. Back in 2007, the Supreme Court ruled that the EPA had the authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act — but only if the agency found that the gases were a threat to public health and welfare. In 2009, the EPA furnished overwhelming evidence in support of that point.
As The New York Times reports, a court battle seems to be precisely what the Trump administration wants. That would allow its lawyers to try to convince the conservative-majority Supreme Court to overturn the 2007 decision, thus dealing a more lasting blow to climate policy, as opposed to revoking the endangerment finding, which a Democratic administration would swiftly reverse.
There’s a reason the administration is relying on a legal strategy rather than contesting the science, Inside Climate News points out: The Trump EPA’s attempts to argue with the climate science have been “laughed out of the room,” Meredith Hankins, legal director for NRDC’s federal climate program, told the publication. (This has not stopped top Trump officials like Interior Secretary Doug Burgum from insisting on Fox News, in between breathless praise of “beautiful, clean coal,” that CO2 is merely plant food.)
Environmental advocates unanimously blasted the decision, highlighting how it would not only harm efforts to fight climate change, but threaten public health and affordability, too.
“Most people have never heard of this safeguard — the ‘endangerment’ finding — but repealing it sends a clear message: this government doesn’t care,” David Widawsky, U.S. director of research group World Resources Institute, said in a statement. “The bottom line is that repealing these protections will make everyday life more expensive, more risky and more uncertain for Americans.”
A quick analysis from the research firm Rhodium Group attempted to quantify the exact impact the decision will have on U.S. climate efforts. It found that national emissions will still fall even if the finding is permanently repealed, thanks to the rapid growth of cheap clean energy, but that decarbonization will be more sluggish.
Put simply, repealing the endangerment finding will slow climate progress at the exact moment the world needs it to speed up.
Coal gets another wave of federal support
The federal government unleashed another raft of pro-coal moves this week, aimed at keeping aging power plants running past their prime.
First, on Tuesday, the EPA granted coal-plant owners an extension on cleaning up toxic coal ash. The EPA had previously required owners to start cleaning up inactive coal ash storage sites — which can leech dangerous pollutants into groundwater — by mid-2029, but now they’ll have until early 2032.
The same day, the Tennessee Valley Authority — the federally owned utility whose board is now packed with Trump appointees — announced plans to keep two of its four coal-fired power plants running instead of retiring them in 2035.
And to wrap up the week, Trump ordered the Defense Department to buy more coal-fired power and announced that the Department of Energy would award $175 million to upgrade several aging coal plants. (The details on how this will work are … fuzzy.)
Puerto Rico’s grid crisis reaches a Super Bowl–size audience
If you watched Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime performance on Sunday, you saw a swirling celebration of Puerto Rican culture — and a statement about the island’s fragile power grid.
After a few minutes graced by Lady Gaga, a real wedding, and people dressed as sugarcane, things quite literally turned dark. As Bad Bunny sang his 2022 song“El Apagón” (“The Blackout”), he and some dancers climbed electric poles as the lights flickered and sparks flew.
It was a high-profile reminder that Puerto Rico’s power grid has been in shambles since 2017’s Hurricanes Irma and Maria, Canary Media’s Maria Gallucci reports. Even without major weather events, Puerto Rican utility customers face an average of 27 hours of power grid interruptions each year — and recent Trump administration cuts aren’t helping. Distributed solar and battery systems have shown promise in keeping the lights on and power costs low, but with federal assistance stripped back, most residents are still unable to tap in.
Spinning up success: Offshore wind performed as well as gas power plants and better than coal in January, shoring up the Northeast’s power grid through a brutal cold spell. (Canary Media)
The offshore wind fight continues: Interior Secretary Doug Burgum says the Trump administration plans to appeal five rulings that allowed offshore wind farm construction to continue. (Bloomberg)
Natural gas disconnect: Experts say the Trump administration’s push to expand natural gas exports doesn’t mesh with its promise to curb skyrocketing power prices back in the U.S. (Canary Media)
Coal’s mounting cost: The net cost of keeping a Michigan coal plant open has reached $135 million since President Trump ordered the facility to stay online in May 2025. (MLive)
Powerful pivot: At least 10 North American EV battery plants are being revamped to instead produce grid batteries for energy storage systems. (Financial Times)
Renewables under attack: A bill making its way through Ohio’s legislature would essentially ban wind and solar development in the state — one of several similar attempts around the U.S. (Canary Media)
Heat-pump troubleshooting: Icy crusts kept some heat pumps from performing their best during recent bouts of extreme cold, but experts recommend owners take a few easy steps ahead of storms to keep their systems running. (Canary Media)
Data center crackdown: The White House has reportedly drafted a pact with tech giants that would have them make public commitments to ensure that their data centers don’t raise household power prices, stress water supplies, or hurt grid reliability. (Politico)
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