A group comprising health and environmental organizations initiated legal action against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Wednesday, contesting the reversal of a scientific determination that has been fundamental in driving U.S. efforts to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change.
The EPA’s recent rule, which nullified a 2009 governmental finding known as the endangerment declaration, established that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases pose risks to public health and well-being. This previous determination from the Obama era forms the legal basis for most climate regulations under the U.S. Clean Air Act, covering areas such as vehicle emissions, power plants, and other pollution sources that contribute to global warming.
The revocation eliminates all greenhouse gas emission standards for cars and trucks, potentially paving the way for further rollbacks of climate regulations concerning stationary sources like power plants and oil and gas facilities, as experts have pointed out.
The legal challenge, lodged in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, argues that the EPA’s rescission of the endangerment finding is illegal. The lawsuit contends that the 2009 finding supported sensible measures to reduce climate pollution, particularly from vehicles. The coalition filing the case highlighted that the clean vehicle standards introduced by the Biden administration are poised to deliver significant reductions in U.S. carbon emissions, thus benefiting both the environment and consumers financially.
Brian Lynk, a senior attorney at the Environmental Law & Policy Center, emphasized that after almost two decades of scientific backing for the 2009 finding, it is untenable for the agency to claim the research is now flawed. Lynk criticized the decision as reckless, predicting it would create immediate business uncertainty, lead to prolonged legal battles, and undermine the stability of federal climate regulations.
The case involves a diverse range of groups, including the American Public Health Association, American Lung Association, Alliance of Nurses for a Healthy Environment, Physicians for Social Responsibility, as well as environmental organizations like the Center for Biological Diversity, Conservation Law Foundation, Environmental Defense Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Sierra Club.
The EPA’s decision to roll back the endangerment finding was justified by President Donald Trump as a significant deregulatory action and by EPA administrator Lee Zeldin as a necessary step to alleviate regulatory burdens that they claim have stifled sectors of the U.S. economy. Environmental groups condemned the move as a severe blow to federal climate action, emphasizing that the scientific evidence supporting the endangerment finding has only strengthened over time.
The endangerment finding played a pivotal role in the establishment of new climate regulations under the Clean Air Act, obliging the EPA to restrict emissions of any air pollutant that poses a threat to public health or welfare. The EPA’s own analysis suggests that scrapping vehicle standards will lead to higher gas prices and increased fuel costs for Americans.
Gretchen Goldman, president and CEO of the Union of Concerned Scientists, criticized the repeal of the endangerment finding and the elimination of emission controls as a betrayal of the EPA’s mission to safeguard public health and comply with the Clean Air Act. She emphasized that the move disregards scientific evidence and contradicts the public interest, highlighting the escalating human and economic consequences of rising global temperatures driven by heat-trapping emissions from fossil fuels.