HOUSTON, TX – Air Alliance Houston strongly condemns the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s decision to roll back the Endangerment Finding — a cornerstone of federal climate protections that affirms greenhouse gases are air pollutants that endanger public health and welfare and should be regulated.

For communities across the Texas Gulf Coast, this is not an abstract policy debate. It is a direct threat to our health, safety, and economic stability.

“This decision hits home for us, multiple times over,” said Jen Hadayia, executive director of Air Alliance Houston. “The Houston area is the petrochemical capital of the world and is facing massive decades-long freeway expansions. We are already exposed to carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, particulate matter, and ozone precursors at levels that far exceed what is healthy, which is exactly why we need the vehicle emissions standards and other rules that the Endangerment Finding requires. Moreover, we also live with the possibility of the next climate-induced extreme weather event, such as historic Gulf Coast flooding and freezing. The EPA’s recent decision ignores both bedrock atmospheric science and the lived realities of Houstonians, despite there being no time to waste. It’s clear that this administration has no actual plan to make America healthy or safe; in fact, it’s quite the opposite.”

The Endangerment Finding is grounded in overwhelming scientific consensus and affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in Massachusetts v. EPA. Since 2009, it has provided the legal foundation for regulating carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. Weakening or reversing it ignores decades of peer-reviewed science and abandons the EPA’s statutory obligation to protect human health.

“In Houston, we live with the consequences of fossil fuel pollution every day,” says Dr. Inyang Uwak, Research and Policy Director at Air Alliance Houston. “Our region hosts more than half of the nation’s refining capacity, the country’s largest petrochemical complex, and some of the highest vehicle miles traveled in the United States. Houston alone accounts for over 59 million metric tons of CO2e in annual greenhouse gas emissions. This is another reason we need these regulations to protect overburdened communities from the harmful impacts of exposure to greenhouse gas emissions. ” 

We are already ranked among the most polluted regions in the country for ozone and particulate matter. Communities like Pasadena, Galena Park, and Jacinto City — predominantly Latino and low-income neighborhoods — face disproportionate exposure to toxic air pollution from refineries, highways, rail yards, and petrochemical facilities. These same communities are on the front lines of flooding, extreme heat, hurricanes, and industrial disasters, all of which are intensified by climate change.

“The pollution from highways disproportionately affects environmental justice communities because they often live closer to these busy roads and have fewer resources to protect themselves,” says Alexander Spike, Climate Justice Senior Coordinator for Air Alliance Houston. “Traffic-related pollution has been linked to higher rates of asthma, heart disease, and premature deaths in these neighborhoods. The overbuilt road system encourages more driving, which increases pollution and greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change and extreme weather events such as heatwaves and flooding. Half of the Houston-area structures that flooded during Hurricane Harvey would have been spared had climate change not intensified the storm.”

Since 1950, sea levels along the Texas Gulf Coast have risen by more than 18 inches. Climate change has worsened storms like Hurricane Harvey, intensified extreme heat, and increased flooding that damages homes, schools, and critical infrastructure. Without federal authority to regulate greenhouse gases, these impacts will accelerate — and the costs will fall squarely on working families.

The economic consequences are staggering. Climate-fueled disasters now cost the United States tens of billions of dollars annually. The federal government’s own social cost of carbon reflects the real price of inaction — accounting for rising healthcare costs, lost productivity, infrastructure damage, and ecosystem destruction. Rolling back the Endangerment Finding shifts those costs from polluters onto the public.

The EPA’s mandate is clear: protect human health and the environment. Retreating from the Endangerment Finding serves the short-term interests of polluting industries while externalizing long-term harm onto vulnerable communities and future generations.

Air Alliance Houston calls on federal leaders to reverse this rollback and uphold the Clean Air Act’s protections. We will continue to monitor air pollution, elevate community voices, and fight for science-based policies that ensure every person — regardless of zip code — has the right to breathe clean air.

What You Can Do Right Now
You do not need to wait for the final rule to act. 

• Contact your Congressional Representatives: Your Congressional representative can be among your best allies to push back on the EPA’s actions. Telling your story and letting your representative know how EPA’s action may affect you and/or your community can move the needle.

Now is not the time to weaken climate safeguards. It is time to strengthen them.