From Transport Evolved.
The future of the planet – or rather life on it – depends on our ability to react to and mitigate the effects of anthropogenic climate change. And that, for the most part means making smarter, cleaner, choices about how we travel, how we live, and how we power our lives. Now, the planet needs YOUR input to stop the U.S. from making one of the most dangerous decisions of a generation.
A few weeks ago, we told you that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — now led by Republican Trump ally Lee Zeldin — was moving to dismantle any regulation seen as a threat to the fossil fuel or automotive industries.
At the time, we noted his apparent determination to deliver on Donald Trump’s reported campaign pledge to fossil fuel executives: roll back environmental protections in exchange for campaign support. And we shared how the EPA, under Zeldin’s direction, is targeting the 2009 Endangerment Finding — the landmark determination that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare — along with every regulation built upon it.
This, at a moment when climate change is accelerating: storms growing more violent and frequent, fire seasons starting earlier and lasting longer, flash floods wiping out entire towns.
Yet the agency — which in this context could just as easily stand for the “Enriching Polluters Association” — wants to strip away protections designed to limit air pollution.
For once, though, they are at least following the formal rulemaking process — and that’s an opportunity. It means the public has a chance to speak up. Here’s how you can get involved — and why you must.
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⏱️ Chapter Breakdown:
00:00 – Cautions
01:33 – Introduction
04:32 – The Comment Process on New Rules
09:04 – Welcome the Super Happy Fun EPA
11:16 – The Lies at the Heart of the New Rule
13:36 – Basics of Making Comments
15:49 – The First EPA Argument
17:48 – The Second EPA Argument
20:48 – The Third EPA Argument
21:50 – The EPA’s Climate Argument
23:42 – The Scientific Consensus
24:47 – The Impacts of the Rule Change
26:00 – The California Waivers
28:40 – What should you do?
30:08 – The Things to Include in Your Comment
32:56 – And then…?
33:52 – Thanks and Credits
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👥 Today’s Sponsors
🌱 Electric Vehicle Association – https://www.myeva.org
⚡ EnergySage – https://www.kqzyfj.com/click-101290941-16952262
🎁 Win an EV with CCAN Action Fund! ➡️ https://bit.ly/transportevolvedEVraffle
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✊ Get Involved 🗳️ https://indivisible.org/town-hall-resources
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🎙️ Credits:
Host and Script: Kate Walton-Elliott
Editor, Colorist: Kate Walton-Elliott, Vi Horton.
Art and Animation: Erin Carlie; Kate Walton-Elliott
Producer: Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield
Music supplied through Artlist.io
Film audio at start taken from The Decagon Conspiracy (2003). Used with permission.
© Transport Evolved LLC, 2025
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🔗 Links:
Submit Comments Here: https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/EPA-HQ-OAR-2025-0194-0093
Read the Proposed ‘Rule’ Here: https://www.regulations.gov/document/EPA-HQ-OAR-2025-0194-0093
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969713001290 – Air pollution and health risks due to vehicle traffic
https://www.jstor.org/stable/20053815 – The Health Costs of Motor-Vehicle-Related Air Pollution
https://academic.oup.com/restud/article-abstract/89/6/2872/6529413 – The Impact of Car Pollution on Infant and Child Health: Evidence from Emissions Cheating
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1364032122009819 – Impacts of the large-scale use of passenger electric vehicles on public health in 30 US. metropolitan areas
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969721077330 – Impacts of vehicle emission on air quality and human health in China
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-023-01219-0 – Air quality, health and equity implications of electrifying heavy-duty vehicles
https://www.epa.gov/climate-change/endangerment-and-cause-or-contribute-findings-greenhouse-gases-under-section-202a
https://earthjustice.org/experts/hana-vizcarra/a-legal-analysis-of-the-trump-epas-plan-to-revoke-the-endangerment-finding
https://climateanalytics.org/publications/cat-global-update-as-the-climate-crisis-worsens-the-warming-outlook-stagnates
https://firststreet.org/research-library/atrocious-air
