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The Trump administration is proposing to repeal requirements for companies to report their emissions of planet-warming gases allowing them to keep the government and public in the dark about how much they are contributing to climate change.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Friday it is proposing to axe requirements under a 2009 rule that forced major emitters to report their greenhouse gas emissions.
The rule generally applied to facilities that released the equivalent of at least 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide, about equal to the emissions from 5,800 gas-powered cars.
The Trump administration says that if finalized, its repeal will mean no industries are required to submit 2025 data.
About 8,200 facilities from a wide variety of industries typically submit information under the rule.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the move would help industries and wouldn’t impact the environment.
“The Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program is nothing more than bureaucratic red tape that does nothing to improve air quality,” Zeldin said in a statement. “Instead, it costs American businesses and manufacturing billions of dollars, driving up the cost of living, jeopardizing our nation’s prosperity and hurting American communities.”
However, critics argued the move would obfuscate important information.
“By hiding this information from the public, Administrator Zeldin is denying Americans the ability to see the damaging results of his actions on climate pollution, air quality, and public health,” said Joseph Goffman, who led the EPA’s Air and Radiation office under the Biden administration, in a written statement.
“It’s a further addition to the deliberate blockade against future action on climate change and yet another example of the administration putting polluters before people’s health,” he added.
The decision comes after several Trump administration moves to cut back climate regulations including a proposed repeal of the landmark finding that climate change poses a threat to the public, as well as proposed repeals of climate rules for cars and power plants.
