LOS ANGELES, Feb. 19 — More than a dozen public health and environmental organizations filed a lawsuit on Wednesday challenging the Trump administration’s decision to revoke a key federal climate determination that underpins U.S. greenhouse gas regulations.
The petition, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit — one of the country’s most influential courts, contests the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) rollback of the 2009 “endangerment finding.
” Formally known as the 2009 Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding, the determination concluded that carbon dioxide, methane and four other greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare.
The finding has since served as the statutory foundation for federal measures, including vehicle emissions standards and mandatory greenhouse gas reporting requirements.
The lawsuit was brought by public health and environmental organizations, including the American Public Health Association, the American Lung Association, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Environmental Defense Fund and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
In the filing, the groups petition the court for review of the EPA’s rescission of the greenhouse gas endangerment finding, citing the Clean Air Act as the statutory basis for their challenge.
The EPA and its administrator, Lee Zeldin, are named as defendants. U.S. President Donald Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the decision to revoke the 2009 climate determination at the White House on Thursday, describing it as the “single largest deregulatory action in U.S. history.” (Namibia Daily News/Xinhua)
