More than a dozen environmental and health groups, including the American Public Health Association, the American Lung Association, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Clean Air Council, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club, and the Union of Concerned Scientists, have filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The lawsuit, lodged on Wednesday, accuses the agency of shirking its duty to protect public health by repealing a long-standing āendangerment findingā that has formed the bedrock of federal climate change regulations for 17 years.
Filed with the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the legal action seeks a reversal of the EPA's decision, which included the removal of requirements for controlling greenhouse gas emissions in new vehicles. The groups contend that the Trump administration's move is illegally biased in favor of the fossil fuel industry and undermines scientific consensus, ignoring extensive evidence on the deadly impacts of unchecked pollution and resulting climate-induced disasters such as floods, droughts, wildfires, and hurricanes.
Meredith Hankins, legal director for federal climate at the Natural Resources Defense Council, highlighted the gravity of the situation in a statement compiled by the Environmental Defense Fund. āUndercutting the ability of the federal government to tackle the largest source of climate pollution is deadly serious,ā Hankins noted.
The plaintiffs argue that the science is overwhelmingly clear, contradicting attempts by the Trump administration's EPA to obscure it by forming a now-dissolved group of climate change skeptics. Trump, known for dismissing climate change, recently mocked environmentalists during a US cold snap by questioning the concept of global warming on Truth Social.
In its final rule summary, the EPA claimed that the rollback is the US's largest deregulatory action, purportedly saving Americans over $1.3 trillion by 2055. The agency argues that eliminating emissions regulations will lower costs for carmakers and consumers, increasing access to affordable vehicles and ridding the auto industry of costly mandates, which they claim were stifling innovation. The EPA's publication echoed themes of consumer choice, suggesting the agency ultimately prioritizes this over adhering to climate change priorities.