Royal Society statement on the US Administration’s repeal of the endangerment finding

The repeal of the endangerment finding, which recognised that greenhouse gases are a danger to human health, is yet another retrograde step for science in the US that ignores hard facts. 

Since 2009, the endangerment finding gave the US government authority to regulate global warming emissions from power plants and cars to protect the health of US citizens and slow climate change. 

The US Administration is ignoring the scientific evidence and the conclusions of scientists and experts around the world. The overwhelming scientific evidence indicates that the earth is dangerously warming, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels. The President has claimed climate change is a hoax. It is no hoax. 

In addition to the repeal, the US Administration is reducing research into climate and weather, including dismantling the US National Center of Atmospheric Research. This would suggest that the Administration is afraid of the truth. Sadly, US scientific institutions working in climate science may be reluctant to speak out for fear of retribution.  

The US Administration should focus on hard scientific evidence, not ideological dogma. It should listen to the science, restoring both the endangerment finding and research funding into climate and weather, for the good of its own people and for people throughout the world.  

Sir Paul Nurse FRS, President of Royal Society 

Professor Eric Wolff FRS, Chair of the Royal Society’s Biodiversity, Environment and Climate Committee and Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge