The Trump administration is working to correct an apparent mistake in its unusual petition to end an environmental lawsuit by the NAACP against Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company. Now, the Justice Department says, its motion is also backed by EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin.
DOJ urged a federal court last month to dismiss the lawsuit alleging that xAI built a power plant without legally required permits, making a striking argument to curtail citizens’ ability to sue polluters that would overhaul a decades-old environmental enforcement regime. DOJ added that efforts to shut down the plant impinge on the Trump administration’s prerogatives to enforce federal environmental law and set policy with regards to AI and national security.
The NAACP in response has said that the administration is misinterpreting the law, adding that the Clean Air Act gives the EPA administrator — not DOJ nor a presidential administration at large — a right to intervene in litigation.
On Tuesday, DOJ filed a corrected motion backed by Zeldin, saying its amended filing should address the problem.
