A Big Change From the EPA Concerning Greenhouse Gases and Climate Change

Summary

---

Fox News Hourly Update:

"A Big Change From the EPA Concerning Greenhouse Gases and Climate Change"

Date: February 12, 2026
Host: Lisa Licera (FOX News Podcasts)

---

Episode Overview

This episode delivers a rapid-fire update on major national stories, focusing on the sweeping rollback of a foundational EPA greenhouse gas regulation under the Trump administration. The episode also touches on looming government shutdowns, new state death penalty legislation, a controversial Virginia Supreme Court adoption ruling, and the impact of AI in politics. Fox News anchors and correspondents provide timely details and reactions across the political spectrum.

---

Key Segments & Discussion Points

1. EPA Rolls Back 2009 Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding

Timestamps: 00:02–00:49

• Main News:
  • The EPA, under President Trump, rescinds the 2009 finding that categorized greenhouse gases as a danger to public health.
  • This finding had served as the legal basis for many climate change regulations in the U.S.
• President Trump's Position:
  • Touts the move as the "single largest deregulation in US History," claiming it will lower energy prices and new car costs.
    • Quote:
      “The action amounts to the single largest deregulation move in US History and will drive down energy prices and the cost of a new car.”
      — Jared Halpern reporting, quoting President Trump (00:25)
• Commentary:
  • An unidentified commentator labels the previous rule "the legal foundation for the green news scam, one of the greatest scams in history, probably.” (00:19)
• Industry Impact:
  • Deregulation especially praised for benefiting the U.S. auto industry.
    • Quote:
      “Perhaps no industry has benefited more from our historic deregulation campaign than the US Auto industry.” (00:34)
• Opposition:
  • Environmental groups and Democratic governors pledge legal challenges, stating “both the science and the law are crystal clear.” (00:41)
• Reporting:
  • Jared Halpern provides a summary from the White House.

---

2. Looming Department of Homeland Security Shutdown

Timestamps: 00:49–01:31

• Context:
  • The Department of Homeland Security faces a potential shutdown; Republicans lack Senate support to renew funding.
• Democratic Arguments:
  • Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer insists that more reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are required in any DHS funding bill.
    • Quote:
      "Americans are watching what's happened in neighborhood after neighborhood across the country. They know it's wrong. They know it's excessive and they want Congress, the Senate, to fix it." (01:03)
• Republican Response:
  • Senate Majority Leader John Thune and correspondent Grinal Scott counter that reforms—including body cameras, de-escalation training, and increased ICE oversight—were already included in the bill Democrats rejected.
    • Quote:
      “It was a bipartisan bill, had reforms in it. It had body cameras in it, had de escalation training in it. It had more oversight of ICE activities in it. These are reforms that the Democrats had requested, agreed to and then walked away.” — Grinal Scott (01:17)
• Consequences:
  • Impending shutdown would impact FEMA, TSA, and the Coast Guard; could be prolonged with Congress in recess.

---

3. Other Major News Stories

a. Disappearance in Arizona

Timestamps: 01:31–02:00

• Arizona police seek surveillance footage in the 12-day disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, mother of TODAY show anchor Savannah Guthrie.

---

b. Alabama Expands the Death Penalty for Child Sex Crimes

Timestamps: 02:37–03:25

• New Legislation:
  • Governor Kay Ivey signs the Child Predator Death Penalty Act, permitting capital punishment for first-degree rape, sodomy, or sexual assault of children under 12.
    • Quote:
      “If criminals commit sex crimes against kids, a cell on death row awaits them.” — Statement from Gov. Kay Ivey (02:41)
• Legal Debate:
  • Alabama is the sixth state to enact, despite the Supreme Court previously ruling death sentences for child predators violate the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

---

c. Virginia Supreme Court Upholds Controversial Adoption

Timestamps: 03:25–03:55

• Ruling:
  • U.S. Marine and wife retain custody of an Afghan orphan, despite federal directives for reunification with Afghan relatives.
• Court Reasoning:
  • State law finalizes adoption after six months, barring further challenges.
• Dissent:
  • Three justices dissent, calling the ruling "wrong and cancerous."

---

d. Artificial Intelligence, Politics, and Safety Triggers

Timestamps: 03:55–04:28

• Main Point:
  • AI company Anthropic donates $20 million to support candidates favoring state-level AI regulation.
• Safety Concerns:
  • Anthropic’s own report warns its Claude Opus AI could be misused for chemical weapon development and other crimes.
  • Head of Anthropic’s research team resigns, citing “the world is in peril” and internal pressure to compromise safety values.
    • Quote:
      “The world is in peril and the safety team is under constant pressure to put values aside.” — Unknown commentator summarizing Anthropic research head’s resignation (04:28)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “This radical rule became the legal foundation for the green news scam, one of the greatest scams in history, probably.”
  — Unknown Commentator (00:19)
• “The action amounts to the single largest deregulation move in US History and will drive down energy prices and the cost of a new car.”
  — Jared Halpern (00:25; quoting President Trump)
• “Americans are watching what's happened in neighborhood after neighborhood across the country. They know it's wrong... and they want Congress... to fix it.”
  — Unknown Commentator, summarizing Schumer (01:03)
• "[It] had body cameras in it, had de escalation training in it. It had more oversight of ICE activities in it. These are reforms that the Democrats had requested, agreed to and then walked away.”
  — Grinal Scott (01:17)
• “If criminals commit sex crimes against kids, a cell on death row awaits them.”
  — Gov. Kay Ivey (02:41)
• “[The] world is in peril and the safety team is under constant pressure to put values aside.”
  — Resigning Anthropic research head (04:28)

---

Important Timestamps

• 00:02–00:49 — EPA rescinds landmark greenhouse gas endangerment finding
• 00:49–01:31 — Homeland Security funding and ICE reform standoff
• 02:37–03:25 — Alabama’s new death penalty law for child sex crimes
• 03:25–03:55 — Virginia adoption case highlights state vs. federal authority
• 03:55–04:28 — AI company Anthropic’s political and safety moves

---

Tone & Style

The episode maintains FOX News’s signature brisk, direct newscast tone, interspersed with pointed commentary and opposition quotes, presenting both policy and political implications with urgency and clarity.

---

Transcript

[Lisa Licera]

A rollback of a key finding on climate change. I'm Lisa Licera of FOX News. The regulation in place since 2009, President.

[Jared Halpern]

Trump's Environmental Protection Agency is rescinding a 2009 declaration that greenhouse gases endanger public health.

[Unknown Commentator]

This radical rule became the legal foundation for the green news scam, one of the greatest scams in history, probably.

[Jared Halpern]

President Trump says the action amounts to the single largest deregulation move in US History and will drive down energy prices and the cost of a new car.

[Unknown Commentator]

Perhaps no industry has benefited more from our historic deregulation campaign than the US Auto industry.

[Jared Halpern]

Already, environmental groups and some Democratic governors are planning legal challenges, saying both the science and the law are crystal clear.

[Lisa Licera]

Fox's Jared Halpern the White House. The Department of Homeland Security appears headed for a shutdown tomorrow after Republicans failed to get enough support to pass a measure that would continue to fund it. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer says reforms to ICE need to be part of.

[Unknown Commentator]

The Americans are watching what's happened in neighborhood after neighborhood across the country. They know it's wrong. They know it's excessive and they want Congress, the Senate, to fix it.

[Lisa Licera]

But Majority Leader John Thune says that was already in the bill.

[Grinal Scott]

It was a bipartisan bill, had reforms in it. It had body cameras in it, had de escalation training in it. It had more oversight of ICE activities in it. These are reforms that the Democrats had requested, agreed to and then walked away.

[Lisa Licera]

From funding for fema, TSA and the Coast Guard will be impacted. And the shutdown could last and a half because Congress is in recess next week. Investigators in Arizona now asking people who live near Nancy Guthrie's home to share surveillance camera footage of suspicious cars or people in the month before she disappeared. The 84 year old mother of TODAY show anchor Savannah Guthrie has been missing for 12 days. America's listening to Fox News.

[Capitas Advertiser]

You're a small business owner, but that means you're a lot of other things, too. Accountant, handyman, payroll specialist and IT expert, just to name a few. So how about you let Capitas make at least one thing easy for you? Capitus is the home of small business financing made simple. Compare multiple offers at once for business loans, lines of credit, equipment, financing, revenue based financing and more. No appointments, no waiting days for approval. Up your cash flow and grow your business with Capitas. Today start an [e-mail] that's k a p I t u s.com.

[Lisa Licera]

Alabama's governor signs a new state law that expands the death penalty.

[Grinal Scott]

Republican Governor Kay Ivey has signed the Child Predator Death Penalty act, overwhelmingly passed by the state's legislature. It permits prosecutors to seek capital punishment if a person is found guilty of first degree rape, sodomy or sexual assault of children under 12, Governor Ivey said in a statement. If criminals commit sex crimes against kids, a cell on death row awaits them. Alabama becomes the sixth state to enact the statute, even as the Death Penalty Information center says the Supreme Court has upheld death sentences for child predators as disproportionate to the crime, violating the Eighth Amendment prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment. Grinal Scott, Fox News the Virginia Supreme.

[Lisa Licera]

Court has ruled that a US Marine and his wife will keep an Afghan orphan they brought to the US Even after the federal government ruled the child should be reunited with her Afghan family. The the justices wrote a state law that cements adoption orders after six months bars the Afghan relatives from challenging the court. Three justices dissented, calling what happened in the court wrong and cancerous. An artificial intelligence company putting money behind political candidates that support regulating the AI.

[Unknown Commentator]

Industry Anthropic is an artificial intelligence company based in San Francisco, donating $20 million to Public First Action, a political group supporting candidates in favor of allowing states to pass AI regulations. Anthropic says in a statement the companies building AI have a responsibility to help ensure the technology serves the public good, not just their own interests. It put out a report Tuesday that its own Claude Opus AI model could potentially be used to develop chemical weapons and commit heinous crimes. The head of Anthropic's research team quit Monday, saying the world is in peril and that the safety team is under constant pressure to put values aside.

[Lisa Licera]

Fox's Chris Foster. I'm Lisa Licera. This is Fox News.

[Oracle NetSuite Advertiser]

Every business is asking the same question. How do we make AI work for us? No more waiting with Netsuite by Oracle. You can put AI to work today, NetSuite is the number one AI cloud ERP, trusted by over 43,000 businesses. It's the unified suite that brings your finances, inventory, commerce, HR and CRM into a single source of truth. The connected data is what makes your AI smarter, helping you make fast decisions. If your revenues are at least in the seven figures, get our free business guide demystifying [e-mail] fox.