Endangerment Finding Rollback Draws First Legal Challenges (1)

Youth climate plaintiffs and environmental groups filed lawsuits Wednesday over the EPA’s rollback of the landmark endangerment finding, the first two legal challenges against the Trump administration’s gutting of its authority to stem greenhouse gas emissions.

Eighteen young people represented by legal non-profit Our Children’s Trust told the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that the endangerment finding revocation violates their constitutional rights to life. Their petition for review follows the pattern of similar youth cases looking to hold the federal government accountable for its climate policies, including landmark case Juliana v. US, which was dismissed last year.

A coalition of conservation and public health groups led by the American Public Health Association also petitioned the DC Circuit Wednesday.

“This scientific determination has for years served as the bedrock of our nation’s efforts to curb deadly pollution and safeguard public health and welfare,” according to Kate Sinding Daly of the Conservation Law Foundation. “Taking it away only absolves the EPA of acting on behalf of every family in the country.”

The actions challenge the Trump administration decision to eliminate key legal language that establishes greenhouse gases as a threat to public health and welfare, a move that could help unwind current air and climate rules.

The rescission rule proposal relied heavily on a report authored by the so-called Climate Working Group, which expressed skepticism of years of accepted climate science finding that greenhouse gases pose a threat to health. That report—which was challenged by conservation groups included in Wednesday’s petition—was not included in the final rule.

These petitions will likely make it to the US Supreme Court, opening up questions on the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate planet-warming emissions through the Clean Air Act—an authority that was granted by the seminal suit Massachusetts v. EPA

The EPA press office, “in keeping with a longstanding practice,” declined to comment on the pending litigation.

The conservation groups include the Sierra Club. The Sierra Club has received funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the charitable organization founded by Michael Bloomberg. Bloomberg Law is operated by entities controlled by Michael Bloomberg.