Minnesota joins 24 states suing EPA over repeal of greenhouse gas endangerment finding
Minnesota has joined a coalition of nearly 40 states, cities and counties in filing a lawsuit Thursday challenging the Trump administration's repeal of a federal finding that established greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles endanger public health and welfare.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, seeks to overturn the Environmental Protection Agency's rescission of its 2009 Endangerment Finding, which had served as the legal foundation for nearly all federal climate regulations under the Clean Air Act.
The EPA finalized the repeal last month, eliminating all greenhouse gas emissions standards for cars and trucks and potentially clearing the way for broader rollbacks of climate regulations on power plants and oil and gas facilities.
"Minnesota leaders are making progress towards curbing the pollution that leads to climate change, and I will not allow the Trump administration to interfere with that important work," Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said. "While we work responsibly to meet Minnesotans' needs and expectations, the Trump Administration continues to contradict settled science and settled law in its ongoing work to make Americans less healthy so billionaires can be more wealthy."
Chicago has joined the lawsuit, along with Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Cleveland, Columbus, Denver, San Francisco and Albuquerque. Five counties also signed on, including Harris County, Texas; Martin Luther King Jr. County, Washington; Santa Clara County, California; and the cities and counties of Denver and San Francisco.
The 2009 Endangerment Finding followed a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Massachusetts v. EPA that confirmed the Clean Air Act authorizes the EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. The EPA's determination was based on years of scientific analysis showing that emissions from motor vehicles contribute to air pollution that harms public health and the environment.
The coalition argues that the EPA's rescission relies on flawed legal interpretations previously rejected by the Supreme Court and ignores decades of peer-reviewed scientific evidence on climate change.
"Instead of helping Americans face our new reality, the Trump administration has chosen denial, repealing critical protections that are foundational to the federal government's response to climate change," said New York Attorney General Letitia James, who led the suit along with attorneys general of Massachusetts, California and Connecticut.
EPA spokeswoman Brigit Hirsch said the lawsuit was "not about the law or the merits of any argument." The plaintiffs "are clearly motivated by politics," she said.
The EPA "carefully considered and reevaluated the legal foundation" of the 2009 finding in light of recent court decisions, including a 2022 Supreme Court ruling that limited how the clean air law can be used to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, Hirsch said.
The lawsuit is the second major legal challenge to the repeal of the endangerment rule. Public health and environmental groups filed suit last month. In all, 24 states joined the case, along with the District of Columbia and U.S. Virgin Islands. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection also signed on.
Courts have uniformly rejected legal challenges to the endangerment finding since the 2007 Supreme Court decision, including a 2023 ruling by the D.C. appeals court.
The dispute is likely to end up back before the Supreme Court, which currently tilts more conservative than it did in 2007.