A coalition of 25 states and cities, led by New York’s attorney general, has filed a lawsuit to overturn the Trump EPA‘s repeal of pollution standards for fossil fuel power plants.
The group filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Thursday to strike down the agency’s final rule.
“Future generations are going to pay the price for our federal government’s callous disregard for Americans’ health and the environment,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a press release.
“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,” James said. “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.”
Last month, the EPA repealed a set of standards finalized during the Biden administration that required new and existing plants to reduce carbon pollution by installing carbon capture, sequestration, and storage technology.
Industry figures said the technology to meet the requirements does not yet exist, and that the rules would effectively close most plants.
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Environmental and public health groups have also sued the administration for rolling back the limits on carbon emissions from power plants. The groups argued that the agency’s move violates its obligations under the Clean Air Act.