N.C. Regulators Say Trump’s Proposed Repeal of the Endangerment Finding Would Increase ‘Criteria’ Air Pollutants

There was a time when the air pollution in Charlotte, North Carolina, was so bad that the 871-foot Bank of America Corporate Center, the city’s tallest building, topped by an ornate metal crown, wore a veil of smog.

It took years, but after North Carolina enacted more stringent regulations, the air in Charlotte, although far from pristine, has finally improved.

That hard-won accomplishment is now threatened by the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to repeal regulations for greenhouse gas emissions, the primary drivers of global climate change.

In July, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the agency’s intention to rescind the 2009 determination, known as the endangerment finding, that greenhouse gas emissions, like carbon dioxide and methane, harm human health and the environ