US states sue Trump EPA over decision to repeal bedrock climate finding

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Guardian

Thu 19 Mar 2026 15.54 EDT
Last modified on Thu 19 Mar 2026 15.56 EDT


A coalition of 24 states, alongside a dozen cities and counties, has sued the Trump administration over its decision to revoke the bedrock scientific determination underpinning virtually all US climate regulations. The new lawsuit, filed in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Thursday, is being led by the states of Massachusetts, California, New York and Connecticut.

It argues that the Environmental Protection Agency’s February rescission of the 2009 endangerment finding – which the White House described as the “single largest deregulatory action in US history” – was illegal. “When the federal government abandons the law and the science, everyday people suffer the consequences,” Andrea Joy Campbell, the Massachusetts attorney general, said in an emailed statement.

The lawsuit seeks to reinstate the endangerment finding, which found that greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare, and formed the basis for climate standards on cars, power plants, and other sources of greenhouse gas pollution. It also aims to reverse a related move from the EPA to repeal all limits on standards for planet-warming emissions from motor vehicles.

“Across our country, communities are already suffering from climate disasters. From freak storms to devastating floods to deadly cold snaps and unbearable heat waves, the climate crisis is here, and it is already reshaping the way we live,” said the New York attorney general Letitia James in a statement. “Instead of helping Americans face our new reality, the Trump administration has chosen denial, repealing critical protections that are foundational to the federal government’s response to climate change.” The court may consolidate the new case with another lawsuit filed by environmental groups in February.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/mar/19/us-states-trump-climate-crisis-endangerment-finding

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Link to SUIT (PDF) - https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/documenttools/158b1f1c8d49362e/76ef57f7-full.pdf

REFERENCES

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143614116
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143615731

[OKIsItJustMe]

1. Two dozen states, 10 cities sue EPA over repeal of 'endangerment' finding central to climate fight

https://apnews.com/article/trump-climate-change-epa-states-endangerment-6b1b5b38140c76a5cc55e17ae5f3b99b

By MATTHEW DALY
Updated 3:29 PM EDT, March 19, 2026

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two dozen states, along with more than a dozen cities and counties, sued the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday, challenging the Trump administration’s repeal of a scientific finding that had been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change.

A rule finalized by the EPA last month revoked the 2009 endangerment finding that determined carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare. The Obama-era finding had been 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.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, is the second major challenge to the endangerment repeal, following a suit filed last month by public health and environmental groups.

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