The Trump administration’s decision to revoke EPA’s legal foundation for climate rules drew its first court challenges Wednesday from a coalition of health and environmental groups and 18 young people.
Two petitions filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit challenged EPA’s decision last week to roll back the 2009 endangerment finding, which identified climate pollution as a threat to public health. The lawsuits — filed hours after the repeal was published in the Federal Register — are the first to challenge the move, though more petitions are expected, including from some Democratic-led states.
“Undercutting the ability of the federal government to tackle the largest source of climate pollution is deadly serious, but the administration’s legal and scientific reasons for doing so are a joke,” said Meredith Hankins, legal director for federal climate at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
NRDC’s lawsuit named EPA and its administrator, Lee Zeldin, as respondents. Earthjustice and the Environmental Defense Fund are also among the challengers, as well as health groups including the American Public Health Association and American Lung Association.
