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Independent analysis published February 21, 2026 quantified the projected public health and economic consequences of the EPA's greenhouse gas endangerment finding repeal, with experts warning the harms "cannot be overstated." Public health researchers projected that eliminating federal authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions could cause up to 58,000 additional deaths over the following two decades, stemming from intensified climate-related events including heat waves, floods, wildfires, and droughts. The combined economic cost of these harms was estimated at up to $4.7 trillion over 20 years.
Climate and public health experts emphasized that the repeal removed the EPA's legal authority to regulate not just vehicle emissions but every major industrial source of greenhouse gases in the United States - oil refineries, cement plants, power plants, and all other stationary sources. "By repealing the endangerment finding, you're knocking out the foundation for all of the federal government's regulation of carbon pollution and greenhouse gases," experts told Inside Climate News. "It's the most devastating decision by the federal government endangering public health and welfare in the history of the country."
The analysis was particularly significant because it directly contradicted the EPA's own framing. While Administrator Zeldin and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed the repeal would save Americans $1.3 trillion, independent economists noted these projections ignored the externalized costs of unregulated emissions and were structured to count only compliance costs to industry, not harms to the public. The EPA's own internal analysis acknowledged that eliminating vehicle standards would increase gasoline prices and force Americans to spend more on fuel - a net negative for consumers despite the administration's messaging.
The Inside Climate News reporting and APHA analysis served as a rallying point for state officials who announced escalating coordination on legal challenges. California, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and other states signaled they were preparing to move for an emergency stay of the rule in the D.C. Circuit, arguing the repeal would cause irreparable harm to public health before litigation could be resolved. The divergence between the administration's claimed cost savings and independent harm projections illustrated the core dynamic of the repeal: transferring regulatory compliance costs from the fossil fuel industry to the general public in the form of uncompensated health and climate damages.