The Environmental Protection Agency’s revocation of the 2009 endangerment finding on February 13, 2026, represents a textbook example of how the capitalist state functions as the executive committee of the ruling class. In this case, the ruling class—comprised of fossil fuel corporations, their political allies, and the financial aristocracy—has once again demonstrated that its primary concern is the preservation of profit, not the preservation of human life or the planet itself.
The endangerment finding, which established that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases pose a threat to public health and welfare, was the legal foundation for decades of federal regulations aimed at limiting emissions. Its revocation by the Trump administration is not merely a policy shift; it is a declaration of war against the working class and the entire human population. By removing the legal basis for regulating greenhouse gases, the state has effectively granted fossil fuel corporations a license to poison the atmosphere, destroy ecosystems, and accelerate the climate catastrophe that disproportionately harms the poor and working people.
Trotsky understood that the state is never neutral. It is the instrument of class rule, designed to maintain the dominance of the capitalist class over the working class. The EPA’s decision exemplifies this principle in action. The agency, ostensibly created to protect public health and the environment, has been transformed into a tool for the interests of capital. When the state acts against the working class—whether through deregulation, austerity, or the suppression of labor rights—it does so because it serves the ruling class. The endangerment finding’s repeal is no different: it is a direct attack on the material conditions of the working class, who bear the brunt of climate change through extreme weather, displacement, and health crises.
This decision also reveals the inherent contradiction of capitalism. The system’s drive for endless accumulation and profit maximization is incompatible with the preservation of life on Earth. As long as the means of production are privately owned and operated for private gain, the state will inevitably prioritize the interests of capital over the needs of humanity. The EPA’s action is a stark reminder that environmental destruction is not an accident of capitalism but its logical outcome. The pursuit of profit at any cost leads to the exploitation of both workers and nature.
The working class must recognize that the struggle against climate change is inseparable from the struggle against capitalism. Environmental justice cannot be achieved within the framework of a system that places profit above life. The fight for a livable planet requires the overthrow of the capitalist state and its replacement with a workers’ democracy that places the needs of humanity above the interests of the ruling class. Only through socialist revolution can we dismantle the structures that allow fossil fuel corporations to dictate policy and destroy the environment.
This moment also underscores the importance of proletarian internationalism. Climate change is a global crisis that transcends national borders, and its solution must be collective. The working class of every country must unite to confront the capitalist class that seeks to profit from ecological destruction. The EPA’s decision in the United States is part of a broader pattern of capitalist retreat from environmental responsibility, a retreat that will be met with resistance from workers and oppressed peoples worldwide.
The struggle against the endangerment finding’s repeal is not merely a fight over regulations; it is a fight for the very survival of humanity. It is a fight to reclaim the state from the hands of the ruling class and to build a society where the needs of the many are placed above the profits of the few. As Trotsky taught, the working class must seize the means of production—not only to end exploitation but to end the exploitation of nature itself. Only then can we create a world where the pursuit of profit no longer comes at the cost of life.