Environmental and public health groups sued the Environmental Protection Agency over its reversal of a landmark climate finding that greenhouse gas emissions pose a threat to public health.
Earthjustice, along with several other green and public health groups, announced on Wednesday that it has filed a suit in the D.C. Circuit against the Trump administration for rescinding the 2009 endangerment finding.
The EPA finalized a rule last week to repeal the finding that six greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and methane, pose a threat to public health and welfare.
The Obama administration issued the 2009 endangerment finding in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Massachusetts v. EPA, which confirmed that greenhouse gas emissions are pollutants under the Clean Air Act. The finding has served as a legal basis for the EPA to regulate vehicle emissions.
The coalition suing the administration argued that the Clean Air Act requires the EPA to limit vehicle emissions in light of the Supreme Court ruling.
“With this action, EPA flips its mission on its head,” said Hana Vizcarra, senior attorney at Earthjustice. “It abandons its core mandate to protect human health and the environment to boost polluting industries and attempts to rewrite the law in order to do so. Earthjustice and our partners will defend what we all know to be true: climate pollution is harming our health, welfare, and economy and EPA has an obligation to control these harmful emissions.”
The case was brought by over a dozen health and climate groups, including the American Public Health Association, American Lung Association, Alliance of Nurses for a Healthy Environment, Environmental Defense Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council, Public Citizen, Sierra Club, and others.
In conjunction with the repeal of the endangerment finding, the EPA also finalized a rule to eliminate tailpipe emission standards for light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles and engines from model years 2012 to 2027 and beyond. The standards repeal would also end fuel-saving features for cars like stop-start, which the administration has argued consumers strongly dislike.
CAR STOP-START SYSTEMS MAY GO AWAY THANKS TO TRUMP DEREGULATION
The emission standards implemented by the Biden administration gave auto manufacturers several options to meet emission targets, including by producing electric vehicles, hybrids, or advanced technology vehicles. The EPA argued that the termination of standards would save consumers $2,400 on a new vehicle.
The plaintiffs argued that these standards would save new car drivers nearly $6,000 over the lifetime of their vehicles.
