Blue States Sue EPA Over Rollback of Greenhouse Gas Finding

The lawsuit, led by Massachusetts, asks the court to review whether the Trump administration’s rescission of the finding that greenhouse gas emissions hurt public health was legal.

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President Donald Trump departs with Environmental Protection Agency director Lee Zeldin after announcing the EPA will no longer regulate greenhouse gases. Evan Vucci/AP

A group of Democratic-led states, counties and cities sued the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday over the Trump administration’s rollback of the finding that greenhouse gas emissions are harmful to public health.

“Climate change is real, and it’s already affecting our residents and our economy,” Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, who led the lawsuit, said in a statement. “When the federal government abandons the law and the science, everyday people suffer the consequences.”

The suit asks the court to review whether the EPA’s decision is legal. It is the latest in a series of legal challenges to the administration’s decision. The American Public Health Association last month led a coalition of environmental and advocacy groups in suing the EPA over the rollback.