New York Attorney General Letitia James is leading a lawsuit brought by 29 states and cities aiming to block the Trump administration from repealing Obama-era restrictions on coal-burning power plants.
Attorneys general from 22 states and seven major cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami, argue in the suit that the Environmental Protection Agency is violating the Obama-era Clean Power Plan by having no impact on carbon emissions.
The lawsuit, filed in the Washington, DC, Court of Appeals, claims the EPA had no legal standing to weaken the regulation and that the Trump administration replacement for it ignores an EPA mandate to set limits on greenhouse gases. The Clean Power Plan set national limits on pollution from fossil-fuel power plants for the first time ever.
The Trump EPA had planned to replace the regulation with the “Affordable Clean Energy” rule.
In a press release, James said, “Without significant course correction, we are careening towards a climate disaster. Rather than staying the course with policies aimed at fixing the problem and protecting people’s health, safety, and the environment, the Trump Administration repealed the Clean Power Plan and replaced it with this ‘Dirty Power’ rule.
“My office, and this groundbreaking coalition of states and cities from across the nation, will fight back against this unlawful, do-nothing rule in order to protect our future from catastrophic climate change.”
The EPA said it does not comment on pending litigation. But the agency added, “In regards to ACE, EPA worked diligently to ensure we produced a solid rule, that we believe will be upheld in the courts, unlike the previous Administration’s Clean Power Plan.”