Tesla urged the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) not to revoke its landmark finding that greenhouse gas emissions pose a threat to public health, Axios reported on Thursday.
In comments filed this week, Tesla said the 2009 “endangerment finding” — which underpins EPA authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles and other sources — had provided a stable platform for the company’s multibillion-dollar investments in electric cars.
As of press time, Tesla shares are falling 4.25% at $424.
“The Endangerment Finding — and the vehicle emissions standards which flow from it — have provided a stable regulatory platform for Tesla’s extensive investments in product development and production,” the company said in remarks posted Monday to EPA’s regulatory docket.
It added the decision was legally sound and “based on a robust factual and scientific record.”
The comments come amid Tesla’s growing rift with President Donald Trump’s administration, whose plan would rescind the finding and erase CO2 rules for passenger vehicles and trucks.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin in August described the proposal as “basically driving a dagger into the heart of the climate change religion.”
At a memorial for the activist Charlie Kirk earlier this week, Trump and Musk were spotted talking briefly and shaking hands.
The encounter fueled speculation about whether the two might repair their ties.
The proposal leans on a series of Supreme Court rulings in 2022 and 2024 that curbed executive branch authority without explicit congressional approval. EPA argued that the Obama-era decision had “unreasonably analyzed the scientific record.”
Tesla acknowledged that existing rules are “overly complex and could be streamlined.”
“While Tesla believes that the current regulation establishing the standards is overly complex and could be streamlined to make it less burdensome, we do, nonetheless, recognize EPA’s authority and obligation to establish greenhouse gas standards for motor vehicles,” the company stated.
Elon Musk commented earlier this Thursday on the recent stock surge, criticizing those who “thought Tesla stock would collapse” due to the expiration of the EV tax credit on September 30.
Also on Thursday, Elon Musk also wrote on X that Version 14 of the Full Self Driving (FSD) will be rolled out “next week,” with the 14.1 planned for two weeks later.
