A look at false claims made by the Trump administration as it revokes a key scientific finding

President Donald Trump on Thursday revoked the 2009 endangerment finding, which has long been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change.

But in making the announcement, Trump and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin made false claims regarding the government declaration, climate change, and energy.

Here's a closer look at the facts.

TRUMP: “Known as the endangerment finding, this determination had no basis in fact, had none whatsoever, and it had no basis in law.”

THE FACTS: This is false. The endangerment finding was adopted in 2009 by the EPA after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that greenhouse gases are air pollutants that can be regulated under the Clean Air Act.

“The idea that the endangerment finding has no basis in law is ludicrous,” said Ann Carlson, a professor of environmental law at the University of California, Los Angeles. “The Supreme Court in Massachusetts v. EPA specifically directed the Environmental Protection Agency to determine whether greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare. The endangerment finding is the result.”

Scientific evidence to support the endangerment finding was provided by the EPA at the time of its inception and is still available on the agency's website today.

TRUMP: “We've basically stopped all windmills in this country. It's the most expensive energy you can get.”

THE FACTS: Onshore wind is one of the cheapest sources of electricity generation, with new wind farms expected to produce around $30 per megawatt hour, according to July estimates from the Energy Information Administration.

This compares to a new natural gas plant, around $65 per megawatt hour, or a new advanced nuclear reactor, which runs over $80. Offshore wind is among the sources of new power generation that will cost the most to build and operate, at $88 per megawatt hour, the EIA said in July.

THE FACTS: Thousands of peer-reviewed scientific studies connect health harms to climate change. They find increasing deaths from heat waves, extreme weather such as hurricanes and floods and air pollution from worsening wildfires. A 2021 study in Nature Climate Change calculated that globally about 9,700 people die a year from heat-related deaths attributable to human-caused climate change, based on data from 732 cities, including more than 200 in the United States.

A separate study last year listed dozens of climate change health harms and concluded, using the EPA’s own calculation method, that the health costs are at least $10 billion a year, probably much more.

The science of climate change dates back nearly 170 years to studies done by American Eunice Foote showing that carbon dioxide heated cylinders with thermometers inside more than ambient air. The first national climate assessment, done in 2000, before Obama and Biden, “concluded that climate variability and change are likely to increase morbidity and mortality risks.”

ZELDIN: “The Obama and Biden administrations used the endangerment finding to steamroll into existence a left-wing wish, including electric vehicle mandates.”

THE FACTS: Trump has made this claim before. There was no federal mandate to force the purchase of EVs.

“If you looked at some of the tables that were in the Biden rules, you could see that there were a variety of different ways that companies could comply with the standards,” said Carrie Jenks, the executive director of Harvard Law School's environmental and energy law program. “The endangerment finding nor the regulations mandated a shift from one type of vehicle to another.”

Former President Joe Biden did set up a non-binding goal that EVs make up half of new cars sold by 2030. Trump issued an executive order on his first day in office revoking that goal.

Associated Press writers Seth Borenstein and Matthew Daly in Washington contributed to this report.

Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.

President Donald Trump holds up an executive order he just signed during an event on coal power in the East Room at the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in Washington. Looking on at right is EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, House Speaker Mike Johnson, center, and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum at left. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

FILE - President Donald Trump holds an executive order regarding coal during an event in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in Washington, as Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, House Speaker Mike Johnson of La., Environmental Protection Agency director Lee Zeldin and coal miners watch. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, file)

President Donald Trump speaks during an event with Environmental Protection Agency director Lee Zeldin announcing that the EPA will no longer regulate greenhouse gases, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump speaks during an event with Environmental Protection Agency director Lee Zeldin announcing that the EPA will no longer regulate greenhouse gases, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump speaks during an event with Environmental Protection Agency director Lee Zeldin announcing that the EPA will no longer regulate greenhouse gases, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump listens to a question from a reporter during an event with Environmental Protection Agency director Lee Zeldin to announce the EPA will no longer regulate greenhouse gases, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

MILAN (AP) — Czech speedskater Metodej Jilek spoke with a straight face and not a hint of irony as he explained how he managed to win an Olympic gold medal in the men's 10,000 meters at age 19 on Friday, adding to his silver in the 5,000 earlier at the Milan Cortina Games.

“I sacrificed a lot of things for this,” Jilek said, “basically throughout my whole life.”

Whole life, eh? Not a lot of calendar pages have turned for him so far, yet Jilek entrenched himself as the new, fresh face of the long distances in his sport. On Friday, bothered by a stuffy nose and a scratchy throat, he covered the 25 laps around the 400-meter track — the equivalent of 6.2 miles, a comfortable distance for a car ride, less so for a skate — in 12 minutes, 33.43 seconds to win the first Olympic long track title for a man from his country.

And when it was done, after he beat silver medalist Vladimir Semirunniy of Poland by more than 5 1/2 seconds, Jilek offered something that might not have been intended as a warning to the other competitors but sure sounded like one.

“I know that I can still improve," Jilek said. "I know that I can still up my training volume. I still have room for growth.”

At the other end of the age scale was the bronze medalist, 40-year-old Jorrit Bergsma of the Netherlands. The gold medalist in the 10,000 way back at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and the silver medalist four years later in Pyeongchang, he is the oldest man competing in speedskating in Milan.

“I’m super happy for him,” Jilek said. “He’s such a legend, such a legendary skater. Really happy I can share my first gold podium with him. It's an honor for me.”

Semirunniy, wearing a mirrored visor that reflected the ice, held the early lead. But Jilek moved more than a second ahead of that pace with seven laps remaining, his metronomic strides so consistent, and he nearly lapped the other man in his heat, 2018 Olympic champion Ted-Jan Bloemen of Canada.

When Jilek crossed the line, he threw both arms overhead. This result did not come as a surprise to him — nor the others on the ice Friday.

“Last season, we saw him coming, right? ... And this year, it has gone to another level,” said Bloemen, a 39-year-old father of two who said this was the final race of his athletic career. “It’s incredible how fast that has gone. ... To get there at such a young age is nothing but respect. He’s an amazing kid. He’s humble. He approaches it the right way.”

Jilek won the only World Cup 10,000 contested this season. After grabbing the lead in the next-to-last heat on Friday, he needed to see what would happen in the last pairing, which included the man who beat him last weekend in the Olympic 5,000, Sander Eitrem of Norway.

And while he briefly was speedier than Jilek in the early going, Eitrem eventually faded to seventh place, more than 13 seconds slower than the winning time. Davide Ghiotto, the Italian who set the 10,000 world record of 12:25.69 in January 2025 and claimed a bronze in the event at the 2022 Beijing Games, came in sixth Friday.

Hours before the start of the 12-entry race, Casey Dawson withdrew from the 10,000, leaving the event without its only American entrant. U.S. Speedskating said Dawson wanted to focus instead on the team pursuit, which holds quarterfinals on Sunday, and the individual 1,500 meters next Thursday. Dawson finished eighth in the 5,000 meters.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Jorrit Bergsma of the Netherlands celebrates winning the bronze medal in the men's 10,000 meters speedskating race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Vladimir Semirunniy of Poland catches his breath after the men's 10,000 meters speedskating race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Czechia's Metodej Jilek lies on the pads after competing in the men's 10,000-meters speedskating final at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Metodej Jilek of Czechia celebrates winning the gold medal in the men's 10,000 meters speedskating race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)