OLYMPIA, Wash. – A coalition of 22 states, including Washington, and nine local governments is opposing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) plan to rescind a key 2009 finding on greenhouse gas emissions.
Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said in a press release that the Trump administration’s proposal aims to reverse the Endangerment Finding, which acknowledges the threat these emissions pose to public health and climate change.
“The federal government is putting Washingtonians’ lives at risk in its rush to gut climate protections,” Attorney General Nick Brown said. “At this urgent moment when we all need to work together to reduce greenhouse gases, the EPA is doing the opposite by appeasing the world’s biggest polluters.”
Scientific studies highlight the impact of climate change in Washington, including a 2021 heatwave that resulted in over 100 heat-related deaths.
The EPA’s 2009 decision followed the 2007 Massachusetts v. EPA ruling, which confirmed the agency’s power to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.
The coalition’s comment letter, co-led by the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York, argues against the EPA’s reliance on a disputed report by the Department of Energy’s Climate Working Group. They claim it lacks a legal and scientific basis.
In a related move, the coalition submitted a second letter opposing the repeal of current vehicle greenhouse gas emission standards, which could reverse efforts to prevent over 8 billion metric tons of CO2 emissions in the next 30 years.
Brown and his counterparts also filed a comment letter on September 2, criticizing the Climate Working Group report for procedural and legal flaws. They urged the Department of Energy to retract the report, which was developed by climate change skeptics without adhering to scientific integrity standards.
