Truthout is an indispensable resource for activists, movement leaders and workers everywhere. Please make this work possible with a quick donation.
Dozens of U.S. states, alongside city and county governments, have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), seeking to block the agency from rescinding a rule that allows regulation of greenhouse gases.
The Endangerment Finding, established in 2009, recognizes carbon dioxide and other pollutants as threats to both public health and the welfare of the United States. The finding is used as a legal basis for why the EPA can establish rules and regulations on greenhouse gases.
In February, the agency announced that it would rescind the rule completely, thereby ending the legal justification for myriad regulations and terminating rules on greenhouse gases in one fell swoop.
It’s estimated that around 91,000 people in the U.S. die each year due to exposure to these gases, one study found, noting that greenhouse gases also likely lead to 10,350 preterm births, 216,000 cases of childhood asthma, and 1,610 new cancer cases annually.
In addition to being poisonous, greenhouse gases are termed as such because they exacerbate a “greenhouse effect” in the earth’s atmosphere, allowing heat from the sun to reach the earth but preventing heat from exiting. The warming of the planet will have disastrous effects, including rising oceans due to warming of the ice caps, more instances of wildfires, altered weather patterns, and more frequent and dangerous extreme weather events.
The Endangerment Finding was created 17 years ago under the Obama administration. The EPA established the rule following a Supreme Court decision in 2007 that found that the agency was allowed to do so.
The lawsuit filed last week, coming from states with Democratic Party attorneys general and governors, seeks to block the EPA from rescinding the rule, allowing the regulations that have been put in place to remain. Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell is spearheading the suit.
“Climate change is real, and it’s already affecting our residents and our economy. When the federal government abandons the law and the science, everyday people suffer the consequences,” Campbell said in a statement.
Other participants in the lawsuit similarly blasted the Trump administration’s attempts to rescind the Endangerment Finding.
“Across our country, communities are already suffering from climate disasters. 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,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James.
“Pretending that climate change is a ‘hoax’ won’t make it go away,” Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said. “The federal government should acknowledge what’s actually happening and make decisions based on science.”
It’s likely that the federal district court that the states, cities, and counties filed their lawsuit in will combine it with another suit seeking to block the EPA’s rescission of the rule, filed by environmental groups, health professionals, and others in the days following the agency’s actions last month.
“This repeal has no basis in law, science, or reality, and human health is at extreme risk,” said Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, an organization that is part of that lawsuit. “The Trump administration is making climate denialism the official government policy and undercutting the EPA’s ability to act.”
Urgent Appeal for Your Support
Truthout relies on individual donations to publish independent journalism, free from political and corporate influence. In fact, we’re almost entirely funded by readers like you.
Unfortunately, donations are down. At a moment when independent journalism is urgently needed, we are struggling to meet our operational costs due to increasing political censorship.
Truthout may end this month in the red without additional help. We still need to raise $7,000. Please make a tax-deductible one-time or monthly donation if you can.