Today, Representatives Deborah Ross (NC-02), Alma Adams (NC-12), and Valerie Foushee (NC-04) urged the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to maintain the 2009 Endangerment Finding, which requires the EPA to protect people from the pollution that causes climate change and its impacts. Recently, reports indicate that the EPA intends to eliminate the Endangerment Finding, threatening the health and safety of people, communities, and the environment in North Carolina and across the nation.
In their letter, the Members wrote: “We are deeply concerned about the EPA’s proposal to eliminate the Endangerment Finding and what this decision will mean for the health and safety of our constituents…. Denying the danger cannot change the facts: pollution from fossil fuels is heating our planet, making extreme weather disasters more severe, and harming families and communities across our state.”
The members outlined how North Carolina is at extreme risk for climate change-related weather events: “In 2024 alone, our state experienced nine extreme weather events that each caused $1 billion or more in damage, totaling over $104 billion in damage and at least 383 lives lost. Nearly a year after the storm, Western North Carolina continues to recover from the devastating impacts of Hurricane Helene, with over 100 lives lost and more than $59.6 billion in damage, including thousands of homes destroyed and millions losing access to clean water, electricity, and healthcare facilities.”
They also described the insidious damage that climate change causes every year, including disappearing the state’s coastline: “Sea levels are expected to rise by one to two feet by 2050, and Wilmington has recorded seven inches of sea level rise since 2010—more than double the 2.7 inches seen from 1980 to 2009. Disruptions of tourism and fishing industries due to hurricanes and extreme weather events are expected to cost the state as much as $157 million per storm event by 2080.”
Extreme heat is another growing concern, with five of the state’s top six warmest years occurring since 2016. As of July, hospitals reported more than a dozen cases of heat exhaustion each day due to record breaking heat. Eliminating the Endangerment Finding would intensify the effects of extreme heat.
The members concluded: “By proposing to eliminate the Endangerment Finding, the Trump administration aims to undermine other protections against climate pollution: clean car and truck standards, power plant rules, oil and gas rules, landfill rules, and more. It means giving polluters a free pass to pollute at the expense of North Carolina families. It means our constituents will face more pollution, more health harms, and higher costs.”
The full text of the letter can be found here.