Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse announced an investigation on Tuesday into the influence of industry groups and other entities on the proposed revocation of the federal government’s crucial “endangerment finding” for greenhouse gases.
The endangerment finding, released by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2009, has enabled the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles, power plants, and oil and gas operations for over a decade. However, in July, the Trump administration expressed its intent to rescind this finding.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin stated that the agency received feedback from “stakeholders” indicating that “EPA’s [greenhouse gas emissions] standards themselves, not carbon dioxide, posed the real threat to Americans’ livelihoods.”
Whitehouse, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and a committed climate advocate, disputed these claims on Tuesday, questioning whether fossil fuel interests heavily influenced the administration’s decision.
“I am concerned about the role that fossil fuel companies, certain manufacturers, trade associations, polluter-backed groups, and others, who stand to gain from the repeal of the endangerment finding, played in drafting, preparing, promoting, and lobbying on the proposal,” Whitehouse stated in his document requests.
The senator requested records from 24 companies and organizations, including the American Petroleum Institute (API), the Heritage Foundation, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and automotive manufacturers.
The letters request these groups provide internal and external communications with executive branch officials, the Trump campaign, Trump’s transition team, and other related parties by Sept. 30.
However, the request is not legally enforceable, and there is no obligation for these groups to comply.
Whitehouse wrote that if the endangerment finding repeal is approved, it would favor polluting industries and their supporters, allowing them to profit while transferring climate disaster costs to American families, businesses, and taxpayers.
Inside Climate News has filed Freedom of Information Act requests with the EPA for copies of all communications between the agency and representatives, employees, or lobbyists from groups listed in Whitehouse’s letter, including the API.
An oil and gas industry source denied that API was involved in developing or drafting the EPA’s proposal to rescind the endangerment finding.
An API spokesperson stated via email that while they believe the federal government should regulate greenhouse gases, including methane, the prior administration’s emissions mandates were an overreach.
“As the administration begins this process, we look forward to collaborating on a smart and effective regulatory approach,” the statement added.
Fossil fuel interests engaged with the Trump administration this year to push their agendas. In July, the EPA delayed compliance deadlines for methane emission rules, a change industry leaders had requested.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, criticized as beneficial to the fossil fuel sector, increases lease sales for drilling and mandates federal land availability for mining, while accelerating the phaseout of wind and solar tax credits.
Mike Sommers, API president, emphasized that the bill “includes almost all of our priorities.”
In 2025, the oil and gas sector invested approximately $71 million in federal lobbying during the first two quarters, slightly less than in 2024.
Watchdog groups noted that the industry’s lobbying expenditures remained steady, despite significant policy gains, highlighting its pre-existing influence and the number of industry insiders in government roles.
Original Story at insideclimatenews.org