Climate groups sue Trump administration over EPA's bombshell deregulation decision

By Fox News · Fox News

Climate activist groups sued President Donald Trump 's administration on Wednesday in an effort to block officials from undercutting environmental regulations. The lawsuit targets the Environmental Protection Agency's decision to revoke an Obama-era "endangerment finding" that serves as the underpinning for sweeping climate regulations . The finding, which the administration announced plans to revoke last week, asserted that pollution and climate change constitute harm to the American people. The lawsuit names the EPA and its administrator, Lee Zeldin, as plaintiffs. "EPA’s repeal of the endangerment finding and safeguards to limit vehicle emissions marks a complete dereliction of the agency’s mission to protect people’s health and its legal obligation under the Clean Air Act," said Gretchen Goldman, president and CEO at the Union of Concerned Scientists, one of the groups behind the lawsuit. "This shameful and dangerous action by the Trump administration and EPA Administrator Zeldin is rooted in falsehoods not facts and is at complete odds with the public interest and the best available science," Goldman added. TRUMP ADMIN EYES OVERTURNING BIDEN'S GREEN ENERGY LEGACY TO TUNE OF $7B Nearly 20 groups signed on to the lawsuit, including the American Public Health Association, American Lung Association, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club and others. The EPA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. The 2009 "endangerment finding" identified six greenhouse gases that the Obama administration said pose "a threat to public health and welfare." That harm finding was used to justify climate regulations from the EPA such as raising fuel economy standards and limiting power plant emissions. TEXAS CHALLENGES NEWSOM’S GAS CAR CRACKDOWN, WARNING CALIFORNIA CAN’T DICTATE US AUTO MARKET Zeldin hailed the move as cutting through government red tape in an inter…