US states sue Trump EPA over decision to repeal bedrock climate finding [View all]

Source: The Guardian

Thu 19 Mar 2026 15.54 EDT
Last modified on Thu 19 Mar 2026 15.56 EDT


A coalition of 24 states, alongside a dozen cities and counties, has sued the Trump administration over its decision to revoke the bedrock scientific determination underpinning virtually all US climate regulations. The new lawsuit, filed in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Thursday, is being led by the states of Massachusetts, California, New York and Connecticut.

It argues that the Environmental Protection Agency’s February rescission of the 2009 endangerment finding – which the White House described as the “single largest deregulatory action in US history” – was illegal. “When the federal government abandons the law and the science, everyday people suffer the consequences,” Andrea Joy Campbell, the Massachusetts attorney general, said in an emailed statement.

The lawsuit seeks to reinstate the endangerment finding, which found that greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare, and formed the basis for climate standards on cars, power plants, and other sources of greenhouse gas pollution. It also aims to reverse a related move from the EPA to repeal all limits on standards for planet-warming emissions from motor vehicles.

“Across our country, communities are already suffering from climate disasters. From freak storms to devastating floods to deadly cold snaps and unbearable heat waves, the climate crisis is here, and it is already reshaping the way we live,” said the New York attorney general Letitia James in a statement. “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.” The court may consolidate the new case with another lawsuit filed by environmental groups in February.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/mar/19/us-states-trump-climate-crisis-endangerment-finding