Leaders in two dozen more than two dozen states, including New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez, on Thursday sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for rescinding its longstanding position that greenhouse gases are harmful for to public health.
Although the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, simply asked asks the court to review the EPA’s actions, in public statements attorneys general have said publicly the AGs have accused accuse the federal environmental agency of acting illegally when it rolled back its regulatory oversight.
Since 2009, the EPA has relied on what’s known as the “Endangerment Finding” – which determined that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases endangered public health and welfare – to regulate sources of pollution such as to regulate sources of pollution like cars and power plants. The Endangerment Finding stemmed from a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that determined the Clean Air Act authorized the EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.
“For nearly two decades, the Endangerment Finding has served as a cornerstone of our nation’s efforts to protect the environment and safeguard public health, grounded firmly in science and upheld by the courts,” Torrez said in a Friday statement. “The EPA’s attempt to rescind it is not only an attack on well-established science, but a direct violation of clear Supreme Court precedent and the agency’s legal obligations under the Clean Air Act.”
When the federal government relinquished that oversight power in February, the Trump administration hailed it as the “single largest deregulatory action in U.S. history.”
“The Endangerment Finding has been the source of 16 years of consumer choice restrictions and trillions of dollars in hidden costs for Americans,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement at the time. “Referred to by some as the ‘Holy Grail’ of the ‘climate change religion,’ the Endangerment Finding is now eliminated. The Trump EPA is strictly following the letter of the law, returning commonsense to policy, delivering consumer choice to Americans and advancing the American Dream.”
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell is leading the multistate effort in court. In addition to Torrez, city attorneys in Albuquerque also signed onto the suit.
“Climate change is real, and it’s already affecting our residents and our economy,” Campbell said in a statement. “When the federal government abandons the law and the science, everyday people suffer the consequences. As a mom, I want my boys – and every child in our state – to grow up breathing clean air and playing safely outdoors.”
Torrez signed onto the lawsuit along with attorneys general from California, New York, Connecticut, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin, as well as the governor of Pennsylvania.
