New York Attorney General Letitia James is co-leading a coalition of attorneys general, counties, and cities in a series of actions opposing the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) unlawful proposal to rescind its landmark 2009 Endangerment Finding, which established that greenhouse gas emissions drive climate change and pose a threat to public health and welfare.
James and the coalition asserted on Monday, Sept. 22, that the administration’s proposal would irreversibly damage the nation’s efforts to combat the climate crisis by abandoning the fight to regulate harmful air pollution.
“Climate change is real, it is dangerous, and it is already hurting communities in New York and across the nation,” said Attorney General James. “With this reckless proposal, the EPA is ignoring science in favor of abandoning its responsibility to protect the American people.
“Rolling back these critical protections would worsen asthma, heart disease, and premature deaths, and put vulnerable communities at even greater risk,” she added. “My office will always fight to defend science, protect public health, and hold the federal government accountable.”
In a comment letter submitted to EPA on Monday, the coalition argues that rescinding the Endangerment Finding would violate settled law, binding Supreme Court precedent, and overwhelming scientific consensus.
The coalition warns that reversing course would endanger the health and safety of millions of Americans, particularly vulnerable populations such as children, seniors, low-income communities, and workers already disproportionately harmed by climate change and air pollution.
The coalition points to harms like extreme heat, worsening storms, wildfires, and flooding as examples of the growing threats that would be impacted by abandoning these protections—protections that the EPA is legally obligated to uphold under the Clean Air Act, which requires the EPA to regulate air pollution, including greenhouse gas emissions, that endanger public health and welfare.
In a second letter to EPA on Monday, Attorney General James and the coalition emphasize the importance of preserving strong federal motor vehicle emissions standards.
For decades, they say the EPA has recognized that pollution from cars and trucks contributes to asthma, heart disease, impaired lung development, low birthweight, and premature death.
The coalition says current standards are projected to prevent over eight billion metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions over the next 30 years and avoid $1.82 trillion in climate harm.
In Monday’s letter, Attorney General James and the coalition argue that rolling back these protections would violate the Clean Air Act, harm public health, hinder American innovation, and place US automakers at a competitive disadvantage in global markets that increasingly prioritize zero—and low-emission vehicles.
Earlier this month, Attorney General James led a coalition in a separate comment letter opposing a “flawed and unlawful report” from the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Climate Working Group, which forms the supposed scientific basis for EPA’s proposed rescission.
James said the report was drafted in less than two months by well-known climate skeptics without peer review. The coalition argues that the final report ignores federal standards of scientific integrity and fails to comply with the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
They also allege the report is riddled with inaccuracies and mischaracterizations of decades of peer-reviewed climate science.
In the letter, Attorney General James and the coalition urge DOE to withdraw the report entirely.
Last month, Attorney General James and the coalition filed an amicus brief challenging the report, arguing that the federal government cannot rely on such unlawful and unreliable findings to justify climate policy.
Attorney General James emphasizes that failing to act on climate change will have—and is already having—deadly consequences. In the past twenty years, the number of billion-dollar climate disasters in New York State has more than doubled compared to the previous twenty years.
James said there have also been over 90 % more fatalities due to extreme heat, severe floods and storms, and hurricanes.
She said New York City alone now averages over 500 heat-related deaths each year, largely the result of greenhouse gas emissions and their effect on our climate.
Joining Attorney General James in several of these actions are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia. Also joining several actions are the Chief Legal Officers of the City and County of Denver, City and County of San Francisco, Martin Luther King Jr. County, Washington, and the Cities of Chicago and New York.
