The Trump administration has revoked the bedrock scientific determination that gives the government the ability to regulate climate-heating pollution. The move was described as a gift to “billionaire polluters” at the expense of Americans’ health.

The endangerment finding, which states that the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere endangers public health and welfare, has since 2009 allowed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to limit heat-trapping pollution from vehicles, power plants and other industrial sources.

Donald Trump called the move “the single largest deregulatory action in American history”.

“This is a big one if you’re into environment,” he told reporters on Thursday. “This is about as big as it gets.”

The move comes as part of Trump’s bigger anti-environment push, which has seen him roll back pollution rules and boost oil and gas.