Connecticut and 36 other parties filed a petition on March 19 to challenge the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) rescission of the endangerment finding, a landmark study that served as the basis for the EPA’s regulation of harmful greenhouse gases.
The EPA announced it would repeal the finding on Feb. 12, garnering immediate criticism from Connecticut officials, including Gov. Ned Lamont and Attorney General William Tong. Tong indicated at the time that the state would soon take legal action against the decision.
Tong said in a press release that Connecticut was “going to fight with everything we’ve got” against the EPA’s actions.
“The Trump EPA has ignored the law and ignored the science in its reckless rush to fulfill the wishes of the fossil fuel industry. Rescinding the Endangerment Finding means bigger profits for the world’s biggest polluters, while the rest of us are left more vulnerable to extreme weather, extreme heat and rising sea levels,” he said.
The legal petition includes 24 states and 12 counties or cities as co-petitioners. It asks that the court review the actions of the EPA and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin concerning the endangerment finding.
Katie Dykes, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection commissioner, said in the press release that Connecticut “will step up to do what it can to prevent the worst impacts of climate change while also investing in resilience and disaster recovery.”
“The Endangerment Finding was a well-reasoned, scientifically sound decision that validated something we’re seeing firsthand: climate change is impacting our public health and safety today while imposing significant and increasing costs on Connecticut residents,” Dykes said. “To deny that reality increases the vulnerability of our state to these impacts today, and for future generations. Wildfires, historic flooding, cold snaps and heat waves — these are no longer rare events; they’re our new normal.”
The 2009 study established that there is “compelling support for finding that greenhouse gas air pollution endangers the public welfare of both current and future generations.”
“The risk and the severity of adverse impacts on public welfare are expected to increase over time,” the report said.
The endangerment finding did not impose any legislation by itself but rather acted as a prerequisite for EPA regulation of vehicle emissions, according to the EPA website.
In the press release from the EPA, Zeldin said the administration was “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 action also eliminates all off-cycle credits, including for the almost universally hated start-stop feature.”
“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,” Zeldin said in the press release.
However, Tong’s office said the decision was based on “flawed interpretations of the law.”
“The rescission also ignores decades of peer-reviewed scientific evidence confirming the reality and severity of climate change,” the press release stated. “By eliminating all existing and future federal vehicle greenhouse gas emission standards, the rule violates EPA’s legal obligations, fundamental principles of administrative law, and its mission to protect public health and welfare.”