CT Promises Court Fight Over Trump Climate Rule Reversal

The Trump administration dealt its most significant blow to federal climate policy Thursday when the Environmental Protection Agency revoked regulations requiring the agency to control greenhouse gas emissions linked to global warming.

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong promised an immediate legal challenge to the reversal of what’s known as the “endangerment finding” — a 2009 Obama-era determination that classified six greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and methane, as pollutants subject to federal regulation.

“Over and over again, we see Donald Trump siding with Big Oil,” said Tong, who also serves as president of the National Association of Attorneys General. “He wants to sell out future generations of Americans for short-term profits for fossil fuel companies and the world’s biggest polluters. But we are going to stop him.”

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin called the action “the single largest act of deregulation in the history of the United States of America” and “the holy grail of federal regulatory overreach.” Trump dismissed the original finding as a scam and blamed it for damaging the auto industry and driving up consumer prices.

The administration claims eliminating the endangerment finding will save $1.3 trillion and reduce new vehicle costs by about $2,400.

For Connecticut, the policy reversal poses particular challenges given the state’s air quality problems. Motor vehicles generate the worst greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants affecting the state’s air.

“Connecticut suffers from some of the worst air quality in the United States, and greenhouse gas emissions, including from vehicles, contribute to air pollution that exacerbates respiratory illness,” said Katie Dykes, state commissioner of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. “This reckless action puts us at greater risk for climate-related impacts, such as the dangerous and costly extreme weather events we’ve experienced in recent years.”

Dykes said the state spends tens of millions of dollars annually on health care costs related to air pollution-induced respiratory illnesses.

Governor Ned Lamont joined the criticism, saying the Trump administration “has made it clear they do not care about the impacts greenhouse gas emissions have on the health of our communities, especially our children, seniors, and vulnerable populations.”

The endangerment finding originated from a 2007 Supreme Court case, Massachusetts v. EPA, which established EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles under the Clean Air Act. The court affirmed that EPA must regulate air pollutants that “cause, or contribute to, air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare.”

The reversal follows other Trump administration actions targeting emissions standards. Last June, the president rescinded California’s waiver allowing the state to set stricter vehicle emission standards than federal requirements. California had aimed for zero vehicle emissions within 10 years.

The Natural Resources Defense Council also plans legal action. “This cynical and devastating action by the Trump EPA will not go forward without a fight,” said NRDC President Manish Bapna. “We will see them in court — and we will win.”

The endangered finding’s repeal was outlined in the conservative Project 2025 playbook. Much of the administration’s justification came from a Department of Energy climate report compiled by five climate skeptics selected by Energy Secretary Chris Wright. A federal district court in Massachusetts ruled that report process illegal last month.

The policy change leaves the United States nearly alone among nations in effectively denying climate change as national policy, despite mounting scientific evidence and annual heat records.