The Trump administration has formally declared that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are not dangerous pollutants. If the president gets his way, then the Environmental Protection Agency may soon surrender any ability to regulate heat-trapping pollution from cars and trucks, power plants, and factories — in ways that a future Democratic president potentially could not reverse.

On this week’s episode of Shift Key, we discuss whether Trump’s EPA gambit will work, the arguments that the administration is using, and what it could mean for the future of U.S. climate and energy policy. We’re joined by Jody Freeman, the Archibald Cox Professor of Law at Harvard and the director of Harvard’s environmental and energy law program. She was an architect of the Obama administration’s landmark deal with automakers to accept carbon dioxide regulations.

Shift Key is hosted by Jesse Jenkins, a professor of energy systems engineering at Princeton University, and Robinson Meyer, Heatmap’s executive editor.

Mentioned:

The EPA Says Carbon Pollution Isn’t Dangerous. What Comes Next?

The EPA on its reconsideration of the endangerment finding

Jody’s story on the change: Trump’s EPA proposes to end the U.S. fight against climate change

Jesse’s upshift (and accompanying video); Rob’s sort of upshift.

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This episode of Shift Key is sponsored by …

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Music for Shift Key is by Adam Kromelow.

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