Key facts
- A coalition of 25 states and cities, led by New York's attorney general, sued the EPA to block the repeal of power plant carbon emission limits.
- The lawsuit challenges the repeal of the 2024 Carbon Pollution Standards.
New York's attorney general, leading a coalition of 25 states and cities, has sued the Environmental Protection Agency to block its repeal of greenhouse gas emission limits for power plants. The lawsuit challenges the repeal of the 2024 Carbon Pollution Standards, which aimed to reduce emissions from US power plants.
The lawsuit challenges the Trump administration's rollback of environmental regulations, potentially impacting the energy sector's emissions and the broader fight against climate change. The outcome could influence future environmental policy and the financial exposure of power plant operators.
New York's attorney general, Letitia James, on Thursday led a coalition of 25 states and cities in filing a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to block its repeal of greenhouse gas emission limits for power plants. The lawsuit, filed in the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, challenges the EPA's repeal of the 2024 Carbon Pollution Standards. These standards had required US power plants to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by installing carbon capture technology.
"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,” James said in a statement.
Power plants are identified as the second-largest source of US greenhouse gas emissions, following vehicles, and are responsible for one-quarter of the nation's carbon dioxide emissions. The coalition has filed a petition to strike down the repeal and has also notified the EPA of its intention to sue over the agency's ongoing failure to fully regulate pollution from existing natural gas power plants. The coalition stated that the EPA revoked the regulations without considering "reasonable alternatives" or accounting for the health and climate costs associated with increased atmospheric pollution.
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