21 States Sue EPA Over Repeal of Power Plant Greenhouse Gas Limits
Democratic attorneys general, joined by four cities, asked the D.C. Circuit to throw out the Trump administration's rollback of 2024 carbon pollution standards for coal and gas plants.
A coalition of 21 states and four cities sued the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday over its repeal of most greenhouse gas limits on coal- and gas-fired power plants, setting up a major court fight over how far the federal government must go to regulate climate pollution.
The attorneys general, all Democrats, filed their petition on October 1 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, California, New York and the District of Columbia are among the plaintiffs, along with Pennsylvania's governor and the cities of Chicago, New York and Denver.
They are challenging the EPA's elimination of the 2024 Carbon Pollution Standards, which required power plants to cut their greenhouse gas output. The agency finalized the repeal in September. New York Attorney General Letitia James said the action is "clearing the way for millions of additional tons of greenhouse gas emissions that will worsen extreme heat, deadly storms, flooding, and wildfires." Amy Laura Cahn, a special assistant attorney general in Massachusetts, said the repeal is "wrong on the law, wrong on the science and wrongly ignores the harms it will cause."
The states argue the EPA has a statutory duty under the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gases and lacks the authority to walk away from it. The agency takes the opposite view: that it does not have legal authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. The case traces back to a 2007 Supreme Court ruling that required the EPA to regulate greenhouse gases if it found them dangerous to public health, a finding the agency made in 2009.
The two sides also disagree sharply on the money. The EPA estimates that repealing the rules will save the power sector between $95 billion and $160 billion over 20 years. The Biden administration calculated that the standards would deliver $370 billion in climate and public health benefits through 2047, savings the new estimate leaves out.
Power plants are one of the largest sources of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions. The suit lands after what scientists say was the hottest August on record since 1850, a point the plaintiffs cite in arguing that delay carries a real cost.
The D.C. Circuit will decide the case. Either side could then ask the Supreme Court to weigh in.
