The Trump administration is moving to revoke the 2009 endangerment finding, a decision that will remove the legal foundation for the country’s greenhouse gas rules.

An expert is saying this move could set up a challenging regulatory divergence with Canada.

The 2009 finding was established under then president Barack Obama, underpinning a broad range of federal climate policies by empowering the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate six greenhouse gases through the Clean Air Act.

While this rollback poses as a blow to the U.S. climate efforts, Ian Lee, associate professor of Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business, said this announcement not only dismantled the legal foundation of U.S. emissions rules, but could also disrupt decades of regulatory alignment that have helped stabilize cross-border trade, or the “harmonization of standards regulation.”

Lee said this would create another barrier to trade between the two countries.

“Obviously, this is not good for the environment,” Lee said in an interview with iPolitics. “At the same time, it’s going to create uncertainty in trade across nations.”

U.S.’s rollback on the 2009 finding could weaken its federal emissions standards.

While U.S.’s lower standards could reduce compliance costs for American producers, this could be seen as good news for Canada, as the standards remain the same with other countries like the European Union, Japan, and South Korea, Lee said it will create a lot more “confusion” here.

Sydney Ko reports. 

In Other Headlines

Internationally

The U.S. acting alone has reached the limits of its power and may already have lost its role as global leader, Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, warned Donald Trump at the opening of the Munich Security Conference.

Merz also disclosed he had held initial talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, over the possibility of joining France’s nuclear umbrella, underlining his call for Europe to develop a stronger self-standing security strategy.

In a speech on Friday designed to set a firm yet conciliatory tone about the future of the transatlantic partnership, Merz argued the old order had ended and in this new age of superpowers even the US was reaching the limits of going it alone.

Referring to those that warned the international rules-based order was about to be destroyed, Merz said: “I fear we must put it even more bluntly. This order, however imperfect it was even at its best, no longer exists in that form.”

Switching to English to ram home his message, Merz said: “In the era of great power rivalry, even the United States will not be powerful enough to go it alone. Dear friends, being a part of Nato is not only Europe’s competitive advantage. It is also the United States’ competitive advantage.”

“So let’s repair and revive transatlantic trust together,” he added.

The German chancellor’s speech opened the annual gathering of top global security figures including many European leaders and the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio.

The Guardian has that story.

Cuban diplomat Carlos de Cossio has accused the United States of imposing collective punishment on his country as the administration of President Donald Trump ramps up pressure to choke the Caribbean island’s access to oil.

In a post on X on Friday, de Cossio, who serves as Cuba’s deputy foreign minister, described the situation from Havana’s perspective.

“To be clear: a. Cuba requires importing fuel. b.The US is applying threats & coercive measures to any country that provides it. c. Lack of fuel harms transportation, medical services, schooling, energy, production of food, the standard of living. d. Massive punishment is a crime,” he wrote.

The Fourth Geneva Convention says that “collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited” under international law.

Cuba relied heavily on oil imports from Venezuela, which have been cut off after the abduction of the country’s leader, Nicolas Maduro, by US forces last month.

After the fall of Maduro, Cuba turned to Mexico for fuel.

But the White House has threatened to impose “additional tariffs on imports from any country that directly or indirectly provides oil to Cuba”.

The Mexican government halted the oil supplies to Cuba after the Trump administration’s threat.

But on Thursday, Mexico sent two ships loaded with humanitarian aid to Cuba.

CNN has more. 

In Other International Headlines

In Featured Opinion:

The Kicker

U.S. comedian Ben Palmer is turning dark comedy into political action by setting up a fake immigration hotline and broadcasting the calls on social media. His goal? Show how absurd the desire to deport neighbours and colleagues can be.

Check out this clip of a kindergarten teacher wanting to deport a 6-year old student and his two parents, telling Palmer they are “odd” for being Hispanic and living outside of a city.

Have a great night!