Trump’s EPA Says It Will Save Drivers Money. Wisconsin Experts See A Different Bill
Agency touts $1.3 trillion in savings as analysts project billions in added fuel and health costs here.
Cars travel on Interstate 39/90 on Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in Dane County, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
The Environmental Protection Agency’s decision Thursday to eliminate the scientific basis for controlling pollution that’s warming the planet could have widespread effects for the nation and Wisconsin.
President Donald Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the end of the agency’s endangerment finding, which supports regulation of climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions. The 2009 finding concluded that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases pose a danger to public health and welfare, triggering regulation under the Clean Air Act.
Gov. Tony Evers and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, co-chairs of the U.S. Climate Alliance, said in a statement that the movement ignores science and denies reality.
“Climate change is affecting our Wisconsin way of life, from farming to outdoor recreation to water quality to snow drought,” Evers said Friday in a post on X. “Here’s the truth: Wisconsinites cannot afford to pretend it’s not real. We must fight this with every tool and power we have.”
Environmental and health groups like Clean Wisconsin and Democratic attorneys general have vowed to fight the move in court. Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said it hinders efforts to respond effectively to combat climate change.
On the high end, Wisconsinites could see almost $19 billion in fuel costs and $5 billion in health harms through 2055 under the repeal, according to an analysis by the Environmental Defense Fund. The American Lung Association has previously projected that zero-emission transportation and electricity generation could yield $19 billion in health benefits through 2050, as well as avoid more than 39,000 asthma attacks and 1,700 deaths.
Environmental and health advocates note the finding was based on decades of peer-reviewed science, and evidence has continued to mount on the damages of climate-warming pollution.
The move also strips standards on greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, which had been tightened under the Biden administration. Transportation accounts for the single largest source of greenhouse gases in the nation.
This will only stall progress to clean up the air nationwide and across Wisconsin, said Jim Boulter, public health and environmental studies professor at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
“As the nation’s cars go, so Wisconsin’s cars go,” Boulter said, “if we see less trend toward electrification, then that means we’ll be driving dirtier cars for longer. That has real impacts in terms of human health, in terms of air quality, in terms of the particles we breathe in.”
The EPA said it would save more than $1.3 trillion from reduced costs for new or electric vehicles through 2055.
The ruling also paves the way for eliminating greenhouse gas limits from stationary sources, including power plants. Boulter said that comes as the grid is seeing increasing demand for energy, primarily from data centers.
“With the huge increase in AI energy consumption, data center energy consumption, that means that Wisconsinites are paying more for power, and we’re getting dirtier power. Coal plants are remaining open longer,” Boulter said.
Major utilities in Wisconsin that include Alliant Energy, Xcel Energy and We Energies are pursuing special rates for data centers that they say will protect customers from higher electric costs. But ratepayer advocates and staff with the Public Service Commission have raised concerns that they may not go far enough to protect customers.
On Thursday, Zeldin called the move “the single largest deregulatory action” in the nation’s history.
“The Trump EPA is strictly following the letter of the law, returning common sense to policy, delivering consumer choice to Americans and advancing the American Dream,” Zeldin said in a statement.
The announcement also comes as Wisconsin is set to see unseasonably warm weather this weekend, making organizers of North America’s largest cross country ski race nervous. The American Birkebeiner Ski Race runs from Feb. 18 through Feb. 22. The event is expected to draw 13,000 skiers. The race from Cable to Hayward contributes more than $20 million to the regional economy.
Organizers are limiting daily grooming of its trails heading into Birkie week to preserve snow amid the warm-up. Ben Popp, executive director of the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation, said organizers are seeing better snow conditions than they’ve had in years despite warmer temperatures and the chance for rain or snow next week.
Even so, he said climate change has increasingly affected their operations. Organizers spent just under $600,000 on snowmaking this year. The foundation has spent around $1.8 million on snowmaking infrastructure, Popp said.
“We see the climate changing. Data is telling us it’s changing, and I just hope folks that are in a position to make decisions about climate and pollution … look at the data and consider it,” Popp said. “Because without snow and winter, events like ours are going to be gone.”
Trump’s move ending power to control climate pollution could cost Wisconsin billions was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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