The vibes are off at the Environmental Protection Agency. A massive coalition of 21 states—led by New York—is officially suing the Trump administration today for scrapping rules that capped greenhouse gas emissions from coal and natural gas plants. Also joining the party are Pennsylvania’s governor, the District of Columbia, and officials from NYC, Chicago, and Denver.
The Breakdown
Basically, the EPA decided last month to kill the Biden-era emissions rules. To make matters worse, they’re also plotting a separate move that could permanently block future administrations from regulating climate pollution from these plants. The coalition is currently petitioning the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, arguing that the EPA basically ghosted its legal duty to consider health and climate impacts just to save the industry money.
Who Wants What
New York Attorney General Letitia James didn’t hold back, calling the repeal a "betrayal of American families" and stating, "the stakes are too high to allow this administration to once again put profits over people." On the flip side, the EPA is lowkey doubling down on the economic angle. They claim this move will save the industry over $300 billion and "unleash" energy potential. EPA assistant administrator Aaron Szabo previously mentioned that this allows utilities to prioritize cost savings over shutting down facilities.
Why it matters
Real talk: this is a major pivot away from the climate policies of the Obama and Biden eras. The stakes are high because fossil fuel power plants are huge contributors to planet-warming pollution. The plot thickens as the Supreme Court is already set to hear a separate, massive climate case involving Boulder, Colorado, on Monday. This is just the beginning of what’s looking like a long legal battle over the future of our air quality.
