Whether it be the crisp scent of freshly-rained air as we step outside the airport, the soggy puddles on our favorite hiking trails, or the snowy peaks home to many skiers, waking up to the rain on cozy winter mornings is something Seattleites have come to expect. But this year was different. After the multiple atmospheric rivers this December which led to flooding in many areas of Washington, January managed to last two weeks without rain while simultaneously reaching temperatures of almost 60 degrees Fahrenheit. This abnormal shift in weather in recent years isn’t just common in Seattle, but it’s happening worldwide as a result of climate change.
While Washington is working towards protecting the environment through regulations of chemicals and implementing cleaner building standards, the federal government has recently taken major action to curb climate regulation. On February 12, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) repealed the 2009 Endangerment Finding, which stated that carbon emissions were negatively impacting human health.
The 2009 finding, which originated from the 2007 Supreme Court Case Massachusetts v. EPA, “provided a legal basis for regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act,” according to Stanford’s Woods Institute for the Environment. Essentially, the finding allowed the federal government to take action to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
A February 2026 “Fact Sheet” from the EPA states that the Endangerment finding was a “political move used by the Obama and Biden Administrations to unlawfully expand the federal government’s authority” and that “the Trump EPA chooses consumer choice over climate change zealotry every time.”
Tatler spoke to several Lakeside faculty members to better understand the repeal and its impact.
Climate science
Nickie Wallace, a Lakeside science teacher who formerly taught an environmental science course called Blue Planet, explained the scientific impacts of greenhouse gases in the environment.
According to Ms. Wallace, as humans emit more greenhouse gases, the gases trap heat in the atmosphere. “[They] become a blanket where the gas keeps bouncing back and forth between the surface of the Earth and the clouds,” explained Ms. Wallace. Typically, Earth’s atmospheric blanket helps regulate extreme temperature shifts by acting as an insulating agent, but too many greenhouse gases can also mean drastic changes in our environment, such as global warming. This warm weather traps water in the atmosphere, meaning what used to be a constant drizzle in Seattle has become droughts before downpours.
Ms. Wallace also noted that, with the rise of temperatures, land ice melting will contribute to oceans rising. This is a problem for coastal cities like New Orleans or island nations like Fiji; with the recent erratic weather patterns and heavier downpours, they face a threat of floods because they’re not high above sea level.
“The impact on America is going to be very different than in [coastal countries]. They’re really struggling with their entire way of life going underwater,” says Ms. Wallace. “The hard part is knowing that [even though] the decision is going to impact us, the extent of the impact won’t be as immediate as others on the planet.”
Locally, according to Ann Grodnik-Nagle, a climate policy advisor for Seattle Public Utilities, water will rise 5 feet by the end of the century meaning “episodic inundation during king tides or storm surges” that will primarily impact low income communities and industrial areas. In addition, Seattle can expect seeing an increase in forest fires and temperatures, meaning poorer air quality during wildfire season.
How people are fighting back
Katie Piper, a history teacher who teaches “Government, Politics, and Policymaking,” spoke on the repeal.
“This is only one piece of a total dismantling of environmental protections,” said Ms. Piper. “And one way that some individuals are combatting that is saying, ‘What can we do on a state level?’ How can, especially large states, be like ‘We want to keep these protections in place’ and will at least do it on a state-by-state basis.”
According to a February 12 ABC News article, state attorneys general from California, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts had “indicated they will challenge the EPA’s decision.” On February 12, Washington Attorney General Nick Brown issued a statement that said “For the sake of our communities and our future, this illegal action will not go unchallenged.”
Currently, some lawsuits have been filed against the repeal, with many arguing the executive branch is overstepping their authority and others contending that the repeal will be harmful to the environment. Meanwhile, a youth-led petition argues the repeal will impact their life, liberty, and freedom of religion because the additional pollution will harm their health.
Economic Impacts
This repeal is the largest deregulatory action in American history, according to the EPA, which claims it will save Americans over 1.3 trillion dollars.
“Projections that look out that far should be taken with a grain of salt. If you imagine, that’s 23 years, it’s hard to predict,” said David Dunkin, a history teacher who teaches Lakeside’s Economics elective. “The other thing is [that] that number is just thinking about cost — it’s missing any benefits of that regulation. If we’re not looking at the cost and benefits we’re not actually doing fair accounting.”
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) calculates that, between 1980 and 2024, the United States spends an average of 1.5 billion dollars per year on climate change related disasters, a number expected to increase if the United States doesn’t regulate carbon emissions. This has totaled to 2.915 trillion dollars on climate change disasters such as severe weather, fires, and droughts or flooding.
The EPA states their repeal will mean car prices will drop by an average of $2,400 per vehicle, which will allow citizens more economic mobility and access to the American dream because cheaper cars make it “easier to reach jobs, grow small businesses, and participate fully in the transportation and logistics systems that power the U.S. economy.”
“There’s also an assumption built into the $2,400 vehicle [price drop] that producers will take all the cost savings that they incur and pass them over to the consumers. If a producer can produce something more cheaply, we can’t immediately say all the lower cost will get transferred immediately over to consumers,” Mr. Dunkin explained.
Yet, despite the impact this repeal might have on the American economy and the future of the planet, it’s been largely overshadowed by countless other occurrences worldwide. So whether the repeal might be a hasty mistake from the government that could set back America’s climate goals or a massive economic relief to American families, it’s certainly expected to have drastic impacts on the future of our planet.
Note: Many of the sources cited are from governmental websites and may be removed or taken down. They were active as of 3/8/26.
