Public health, green groups sue EPA over repeal of landmark finding on climate change

A coalition of health and environmental groups is suing the Environmental Protection Agency, challenging its determination last week that revoked a scientific finding that has been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions

WASHINGTON -- A coalition of health and environmental groups sued the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday, challenging its determination last week that revoked a scientific finding that has been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change.

A rule finalized by the EPA on Thursday rescinds a 2009 government declaration known as the endangerment finding that determined that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare. The Obama-era finding is the legal underpinning of nearly all climate regulations under the Clean Air Act for motor vehicles, power plants and other pollution sources that are heating the planet.

The repeal eliminates all greenhouse gas emissions standards for cars and trucks and could unleash a broader undoing of climate regulations on stationary sources such as power plants and oil and gas facilities, experts say.

The legal challenge, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, asserts that the EPA’s rescission of the endangerment finding is unlawful. The 2009 finding supported common sense safeguards to cut climate pollution, including from cars and trucks, the lawsuit says. Clean vehicle standards imposed by the Biden administration were set to "deliver the single biggest cut to U.S. carbon pollution in history, save lives and save Americans hard-earned money on gas,'' the coalition said in filing the case.

After nearly two decades of scientific evidence supporting the 2009 finding, "the agency cannot credibly claim that the body of work is now incorrect,'' said Brian Lynk, a senior attorney at the Environmental Law & Policy Center.