Environmental groups sue Trump administration over climate regulations revocation decision

A coalition of health and environmental groups sued U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday over its decision to revoke the scientific finding that forms the basis of U.S. climate regulations. The legal challenge filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia also challenges the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision announced last week to repeal tailpipe rules that limit greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks. 

The groups suing include the Center for Biological Diversity, American Lung Association, American Public Health Association, Union of Concerned Scientists, Natural Resources Defense Council, Public Citizen and Sierra Club.

The EPA on Thursday said it would repeal the 17-year-old endangerment finding and also end federal greenhouse gas (GHG) emission standards for all vehicles and engines from model years 2012 to 2027.

The EPA defended its action Wednesday.

“Unlike our predecessors, the Trump EPA is committed to following the law exactly as it is written and as Congress intended — not as others might wish it to be,” the agency said. “Congress never intended to give EPA authority to impose GHG regulations for cars and trucks.”

The move represented Trump’s most sweeping climate change policy rollback to date, after a string of regulatory cuts and other moves intended to unfetter fossil fuel development and stymie the rollout of clean energy. The EPA said the repeal and end of vehicle emission standards will save $1.3 trillion. Environmental groups say the move, along with barring California’s EV rules, will increase gasoline prices by as much as 9% over the next decade, adding over $3 billion per year in fuel costs for U.S. drivers by 2035.

In 2024, former President Joe Biden’s administration said the rules would have net benefits to consumers through lower fuel costs and other savings. Biden’s EPA said consumers were expected to save an average of $6,000 over the lifetime of new vehicles from reduced fuel and maintenance costs.

Trump has called climate change a hoax and has withdrawn the United States from the Paris Agreement, leaving the world’s largest historic contributor to global warming out of international efforts to combat it. Trump also eliminated Biden-era tax credits aimed at accelerating the deployment of electric cars and renewable energy.

The United States adopted the endangerment finding in 2009, and the EPA took action under the Clean Air Act to curb emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and four other heat-trapping air pollutants from vehicles, power plants and other industries.

Its repeal would remove the regulatory requirements to measure, report, certify and comply with federal greenhouse gas emission standards for cars, but may not initially apply to stationary sources such as power plants.

The transportation and power sectors are each responsible for around a quarter of U.S. greenhouse gas output, according to EPA figures.

Reuters