PARA PUBLICACIÓN INMEDIATA: March 13, 2025
Contacto: Edder Díaz Martínez, Gerente de Comunicaciones, 602-832-6039, [email protected]
Washington DC – Yesterday,, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under Administrator Lee Zeldin, announced the largest deregulatory action in U.S. History, rolling back methane pollution standards, the Endangerment Finding, vehicle emissions rules, along with a total of 31 reconsiderations. GreenLatinos strongly condemns this decision, which threatens climate progress and poses serious risks to frontline communities, who are already experiencing disproportionate impacts from the climate crisis and environmental injustices.
The Endangerment Finding, established by EPA in 2009, is a scientific and legal determination that greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane pose a danger to public health and welfare. This foundational decision gave the EPA the authority and obligation under the Clean Air Act to regulate climate pollution from sources like power plants, vehicles, and the oil and gas industry. The Endangerment Finding supports the EPA’s regulation of methane, among other climate pollutants from a variety of sources, including the oil and gas sector, which helps to protect public health and the environment. The courts have repeatedly upheld this finding recognizing its importance in mitigating climate change and protecting vulnerable populations.
Latine communities are among those most at risk. They face higher exposure to extreme heat, air pollution, and hazardous working conditions, with 21% more likely to live in urban heat islands, where 30% of Latine households lack air conditioning. Many work in high-risk outdoor jobs like agriculture and construction, increasing their vulnerability to heat-related illness and respiratory disease from fossil fuels.
By reconsidering the Endangerment Finding, the EPA is not just undermining established climate policy but is also jeopardizing the agency’s ability to regulate climate pollution altogether, allowing polluters to operate with fewer restrictions and increasing harmful emissions that accelerate the climate crisis. This will lead to higher levels of air pollution, exacerbating respiratory diseases, heart conditions, and other serious health risks, especially for frontline communities already suffering from disproportionate exposure to toxic emissions.
Irene Burga, Climate Justice & Clean Air Program Director, issued the following statement:
“EPA exists to protect people– not polluters. But today, it has chosen to serve President Trump’s wealthy cronies and fossil fuel interests instead of fulfilling its mission. Rolling back the Endangerment Finding is a direct attack on public health, environmental justice, and science itself. This reckless decision, ripped straight from the extremist Project 2025 agenda, ignores overwhelming scientific consensus that methane and other greenhouse gases fuel climate change and poison our air, land, and water. Latine communities—already suffering the worst effects of extreme heat, wildfires, and toxic pollution—will be hit even harder. Stripping the EPA’s ability to regulate climate pollution is not just irresponsible—it is a deliberate and dangerous choice that will cost lives. We refuse to stand by while the EPA sacrifices our communities for corporate profit. We demand clean air, safe water, and a livable future—and we will fight for it.”
Andrea Marpillero-Colomina, Policy, Research, and Data Analytics Advisor added:
“This action by the Trump administration undermines the EPA’s fundamental mission to protect people from the environmental harms caused by pollution. When it comes to vehicles – the largest source of U.S. emissions – this regulatory action will have fatal consequences for human lives. As it stands, Latines are more likely to live in ‘diesel death zones’ where truck emissions create greater risk of lung disease, asthma, and cancer. Nearly one third of Latine children live in counties where hazardous air pollutant concentrations exceed a 1 in 10,000 cancer risk level. Latine children visit the ER due to asthma at twice the rate of non-Hispanic white children and are 40% more likely to die from asthma. This is a life and death issue, and we will fight for the health and wellbeing of our communities however possible.”
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Acerca de GreenLatinos
GreenLatinos (NOTA: GreenLatinos es UNA PALABRA) es una comunidad activa de líderes latinos, envalentonados por el poder y la sabiduría de nuestra cultura, unidos para exigir equidad y desmantelar el racismo, con recursos para ganar nuestra justicia ambiental, de conservación y climática. batallas y motivados para asegurar nuestra liberación política, económica, cultural y ambiental.
