Shapiro takes legal action to reverse repeal of 2009 Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding
Another day, another lawsuit filed by Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
On Thursday, the governor joined a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s repeal of the Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) repealed the 2009 finding, which found that six greenhouse gases in the atmosphere — carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride — threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations. It originates from a 2007 Supreme Court case, Massachusetts v. EPA, where the high court determined greenhouse gases qualify as pollutants. As part of its decision, the court directed the agency to determine whether these gases posed a danger to public health and welfare.
The findings did not themselves impose any requirements on industry or other entities, but was a prerequisite for implementing greenhouse gas emissions standards for vehicles and other sectors.
Shapiro said that as a result of the administration’s actions, Pennsylvanians face growing threats from increased air pollution and its associated health risks.
“Pollution puts people’s health at risk, makes severe weather worse, threatens our farmers’ crops, and makes health care more expensive,” said the governor. “By trying to roll back protections that keep pollution out of the air we breathe, the Trump Administration is once again throwing science out the window and putting Pennsylvanians’ lives at risk – so I’m taking them to court to put a stop to it. I will continue to stand up against this Administration’s harmful actions and protect the health and safety of all 13 million Pennsylvanians.”
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the agency is saving American taxpayers over $1.3 trillion, by eliminating both the Obama-era 2009 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Endangerment Finding and all subsequent federal GHG emission standards for all vehicles and engines of model years 2012 to 2027 and beyond.
“The Endangerment Finding has been the source of 16 years of consumer choice restrictions and trillions of dollars in hidden costs for Americans,” said Zeldin. “Referred to by some as the ‘Holy Grail’ of the ‘climate change religion,’ the Endangerment Finding is now eliminated. The Trump EPA is strictly following the letter of the law, returning commonsense to policy, delivering consumer choice to Americans and advancing the American Dream. As EPA Administrator, I am proud to deliver the single largest deregulatory action in U.S. history on behalf of American taxpayers and consumers. As an added bonus, the off-cycle credit for the almost universally despised start-stop feature on vehicles has been removed.”
The governor reminded Pennsylvanians that for more than a decade, greenhouse gases have been considered air pollutants covered by the Clean Air Act and by repealing this rule, Zeldin and the Trump Administration have unlawfully discarded years of precedent.
The legal action, led by Massachusetts and California and joined by Shapiro, 21 other states, and several cities and counties, seeks to reverse the EPA’s repeal and address the growing threats from increased air pollution and its associated health risks.
The lawsuit is led by Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbelland California Attorney General Rob Bonta, and joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Steve Ulrich is managing editor of Politics PA.
