EPA’s move is a corruption of the agency’s mission to protect human health
CONTACT: DKC News, [email protected]
Phoenix, AZ (February 13, 2026) — State Rep. Sandoval, Moms Clean Air Force, and local climate and health advocates gathered on February 13 for a press conference to denounce the EPA’s harmful decision to revoke the Endangerment Finding and clean vehicle standards. The Endangerment Finding provides the legal foundation for EPA regulations that protect people in the U.S. from some of the largest sources of climate pollution, including power plants and transportation. This repeal is an attempt to leave EPA powerless to limit the pollution that is heating up the planet and supercharging dangerous extreme weather.
Speakers outlined how this decision threatens the health of our families—especially our children—and drives up costs at a time when the prices of health care and insurance premiums are already soaring.
Watch the recording here.
QUOTES FROM SPEAKERS AND PARTNERS:
Arizona State Representative Mariana Sandoval (AZ-23)
“The farmworkers who feed our country, all outdoor workers, and our families cannot afford a federal government that denies the reality of climate change. Rescinding the Endangerment Finding is like taking all the road signs and the Highway Patrol off the Interstate. It puts everyone at risk. Worse, this repeal unlawfully ignores the clear link between pollution and the rising climate dangers our families are seeing and feeling every day.”
Kirsten Engel, Arizona Attorney General’s office
“The EPA’s decision to rescind the Endangerment Finding is unlawful, reckless, and flatly at odds with decades of settled law and science. By rescinding the Endangerment Finding, the EPA is reviving an argument the Supreme Court has already rejected and ignoring overwhelming scientific evidence. This rule abandons the agency’s fundamental responsibility to protect Americans from real and worsening environmental harm—all while putting industry profits ahead of Arizonans’ health.”
Sandy Bahr, Director, Sierra Club – Grand Canyon Chapter
“I am deeply concerned about the impacts we are seeing here in Arizona from climate change, including the intensifying extreme heat. We continue to set new records for heat, resulting in more and more heat-related illnesses and deaths and higher and higher cooling bills. We also experience extreme drought and more intense wildfires. All of these have significant impacts on and endanger our health. That is just one reason that I find rescinding the Endangerment Finding is absolutely ridiculous and totally irresponsible. Eliminating EPA’s requirement to protect people from the pollution that causes climate change is not supported by science or by common sense and is immoral as it will result in more harm to our health and our communities.”
Pita Juarez, Arizona Field Organizer, Moms Clean Air Force and EcoMadres
“Sabotaging the EPA’s ability to act on climate pollution is both a legal and moral failure. These aren’t just headlines – Arizonans like my family live with the dangers of extreme heat every day. My nieces and nephews deserve better than a childhood spent hiding from the heat, and my brothers – like so many Latino outdoor workers who keep our communities running – deserve protection from heat illness and death, especially in the summer months.”
Paloma Greenwald, RN BSN MA, Health Policy Nurse
“As an elder and a public health nurse, I’ve lived long enough to see what happens when we ignore science and let pollution win. People suffer from excessive heat, dirty air and water, flooding that all lead to chronic disease—it’s all connected. Rescinding the Endangerment Finding directly endangers us and our grandchildren. Ignoring climate pollution betrays the EPA’s duty to protect life. Climate chaos is a public health crisis, not a chance for billionaires to profit from suffering.”
Tawsha Trahan, Director of Healthy Communities, Unlimited Potential
“Unlimited Potential exists to work alongside residents to improve everyday health and well-being and we count on the government to do its part. Providing basic health protections – like clean air, now and in the future – is a core responsibility of the EPA. We support actions that uphold these protections and put community health first.”
Edder Diaz, Communications Director, GreenLatinos
“When everything from food to energy to health care is already more expensive, rolling back protections only makes life harder for Latino and frontline communities. We should be focused on moving forward with solutions that protect our health and lower costs, not undoing the basic safeguards families rely on to stay safe.”
Ricardo Reyes, Executive Director, VetsForward
“In Phoenix, 143 straight days over 100 degrees is our reality. Weakening pollution protections puts more Arizonans in hospitals and makes extreme heat more deadly. Protecting public health and future generations is a responsibility, not a partisan issue.”
Dora Vasquez, Executive Director, Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans
“This proposal is an attempt to leave EPA powerless to limit pollution that is supercharging dangerous extreme weather. As a grandmother and a great-grandmother, I worry every day about the world we are leaving to our children and grandchildren. They deserve clean air, safe neighborhoods, and a future where they can thrive.”