For immediate release: February 12, 2026
Media contact:
City of Portland, Press Office
Multnomah County, Press Office
Today, in a move opposed by Multnomah County and the City of Portland, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rolled back rules that regulate greenhouse gas emissions. The decision by the agency effectively eliminates the basis for regulating these harmful emissions that are a direct threat to public health and welfare. The current rules had been in place since 2009, were based on rigorous and extensive scientific research, and had survived multiple court challenges.
“Today’s decision by the EPA to roll back climate protections is not based in science or the public interest,” said Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson. “Instead it's a naked attempt by the administration to boost fossil fuel interests at the expense of the public’s health and our environment."
Greenhouse gases, released primarily through the extraction and combustion of fossil fuels, cause climate change by trapping heat in the atmosphere and oceans. The impacts of climate change are widespread and have reached crisis levels. The Fifth National Climate Assessment, published in 2023, confirms that climate change is harming residents throughout the United States, including in the Pacific Northwest. The report notes that temperatures in the Pacific Northwest have already increased by 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit over pre-industrial levels, and that warming is projected to increase to even-more alarming levels — between 4.7 and 10 degrees Fahrenheit higher — by 2080.
The impacts of today’s level of warming are felt widely. The 2021 Pacific Northwest Heat Dome for example, which scorched Multnomah County, would have been virtually impossible without the warming effects of greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, the record low mountain snowpack in Oregon this year is consistent with models that predict less snow because of warmer temperatures that lead to precipitation falling as rain instead of snow at higher elevations.
“The fact of the matter is that we are already experiencing the impacts of the climate crisis,” said Portland Mayor Keith Wilson. “With this ideologically driven decision the EPA is taking away some of the most important tools we have for regulating emissions, like car and truck emissions standards.”
Forty percent of greenhouse gas emissions in Multnomah County are attributable to the transportation sector, according to analysis from the City of Portland. Federal laws, however, prohibit states and local jurisdictions from regulating emissions from the transportation sector.
The rollback in EPA rules comes amid a broader assault on federal climate institutions, including national labs and research institutes, as well as other regulatory rollbacks.
Multnomah County and the City of Portland have a long history of working to address emissions and the impacts of climate change at the local level. That work will continue, regardless of federal actions.
“This administration is proving the importance of local climate action,” said Vega Pederson. “No one is going to do the hard work for us, and our community expects us to be leaders.”
“I am so proud of the work that the City is doing to reduce emissions and protect residents from climate extremes,” said Wilson. “We are going to lead the nation, and show to the world, that this administration does not dictate climate policy, even as they bend over backwards to accommodate fossil fuel interests.”