Attorney General James Challenges EPA Rollback of Power Plant Pollution Limits
NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today led a coalition of 25 states, counties, and cities in suing the Trump administration for dismantling federal greenhouse gas pollution limits for many of the nation’s largest power plants, gutting one of the country’s most significant climate protections. In September, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) repealed safeguards that had required coal- and gas-fired power plants to reduce their emissions and curb the pollution fueling the climate crisis. The administration also proposed additional steps to prevent future administrations from introducing new regulations. Attorney General James and the coalition argue that by eliminating these guardrails, the administration is clearing the way for millions of additional tons of greenhouse gas emissions that will worsen extreme heat, deadly storms, flooding, and wildfires. The coalition is filing a petition for review to strike down the repeal and notifying EPA of its intent to sue over the agency’s continued failure to fully regulate pollution from existing natural gas power plants.
“Future generations are going to pay the price for our federal government’s callous disregard for Americans’ health and the environment,” said Attorney General James. “This administration’s insistence on giving the nation’s biggest polluters a free pass will set our country back decades in the fight against climate change. Dismantling these protections is a betrayal of American families, and the stakes are too high to allow this administration to once again put profits over people.”
Attorney General James and the coalition are challenging EPA’s repeal of the 2024 Carbon Pollution Standards, which required many of the country's largest power plants to significantly reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Power plants are among the largest drivers of the climate crisis, producing roughly one-quarter of the nation’s carbon dioxide emissions. Rather than hold those polluters accountable, the Trump administration elected to erase federal pollution limits for most gas- and coal-fired power plants and instead prop up outdated, unhealthy, and expensive fossil fuel plants, which will only increase electricity costs.
Eliminating limits on these emissions threatens communities across the country. More climate pollution contributes to more frequent and more intense heat waves that put children, older adults, and workers at risk. It also contributes to stronger storms and heavier flooding that damage homes, businesses, and transit systems, as well as more wildfire smoke that makes New York’s air dangerous to breathe. Increased pollution from fossil fuel power plants can worsen asthma, heart disease, and other serious respiratory illnesses, especially in low-income and other overburdened communities. These changes also increase the financial burden on local and state governments, which must spend billions of dollars recovering from increasingly extreme weather.
EPA unlawfully abandoned these pollution limits without properly considering reasonable alternatives or the enormous health and climate costs of allowing more pollution into the atmosphere. Moreover, the rescission was arbitrary and capricious because EPA did not sufficiently calculate the full cost of repealing the rule. With today's lawsuit, the coalition is asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to strike down this unlawful rollback.
In addition, Attorney General James and the coalition today filed a notice of intent to sue EPA over the agency’s continued failure to regulate greenhouse gas pollution from many existing gas-fired power plants. Those facilities, including “peaker” plants that often operate during periods of high electricity demand, are frequently located in low-income communities and communities of color that already bear a disproportionate share of pollution. Despite issuing standards for new gas plants over a decade ago, EPA has never fulfilled its legal obligation to limit pollution from existing gas plants. By delaying these protections for years, EPA has left many frontline communities without the safeguards required by the Clean Air Act. The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) will also testify at an EPA hearing later today, urging the administration to abandon its dangerous proposal to eliminate greenhouse gas standards for power plants altogether. If finalized, that proposal could make it significantly harder for future administrations to limit climate pollution from power plants.
Joining Attorney General James in one or more of these actions are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia, as well as the Governor of Pennsylvania, the Mayors of New York City and Chicago, and the City and County of Denver.
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