Attorney General Nessel Joins Coalition in Opposing Rescission of EPA’s Landmark 2009 Endangerment Finding

LANSING – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has joined a multistate coalition in filing a comment letter (PDF) opposing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed rescission of its landmark 2009 Endangerment Finding that determined greenhouse gas emissions, including those from motor vehicles, drive climate change and endanger public health and welfare. Last month, the Trump Administration announced its proposal to rescind the 2009 Endangerment Finding, claiming that the EPA lacks authority to regulate air pollution that contributes to climate change and eliminating all existing EPA vehicle greenhouse gas emission standards in one fell swoop.

The 2009 Endangerment Finding was the direct result of the landmark 2007 Supreme Court opinion in Massachusetts v. EPA (PDF), which confirmed the EPA’s authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gas emissions that threaten public health and welfare. In direct response to that opinion, and after more than two years of scientific review, the EPA determined in 2009 that greenhouse gas emissions contribute to air pollution that harms public health and welfare in numerous ways.  

“Decades of scientific research have shown the devastating consequences greenhouse gas emissions have on our health, our environment, and our economy,” Nessel said. “Dismantling the very finding that requires the EPA to regulate these harmful pollutants is dangerous and irresponsible. I will continue to speak out against such reckless rollbacks to protect our communities from the growing threats of climate change.”

In their 225-page letter submitted to the EPA (PDF), the coalition argues that rescinding the 2009 Endangerment Finding would violate settled law, Supreme Court precedent, and scientific consensus, endangering the lives of hundreds of millions of Americans, particularly those in communities disproportionately impacted by environmental harms. The coalition urges the EPA to abandon its unlawful and unsupported proposal to rescind the 2009 Endangerment Finding.

The comment letter is just one way that Attorney General Nessel and the coalition have recently fought back against the EPA’s dangerous proposal.

In withdrawing the 2009 Endangerment Finding, the EPA also proposes to repeal all existing federal greenhouse gas emissions standards for all motor vehicle classes and all years. In a second letter (PDF) submitted to the EPA, the coalition explains that this unprecedented disruption to the regulatory landscape of the last 15 years will be catastrophic for the States and Local Governments’ residents, industries, natural resources, and public investments.

Attorney General Nessel also joined a coalition in filing a comment letter (PDF) opposing the Climate Working Group report that the EPA relied on in its proposed rescission of the 2009 Endangerment Finding. In that comment letter, the coalition identified numerous procedural and substantive legal flaws in the Climate Working Group report and urged the Department of Energy to withdraw the unlawful and misguided Climate Working Group report.

She also filed an amicus brief (PDF) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts in Environmental Defense Fund v. Wright, supporting the plaintiffs in their effort to declare the Climate Working Group’s report unlawful. In their brief, the coalition argued that the Department of Energy violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) by establishing and utilizing the Climate Working Group, and that this violation will harm States’ and local governments’ strong interest in ensuring that the federal government rely on the best available science to guide its climate policy decisions. The Court has held that the Climate Working Group is not exempt from FACA.

In addition to the actions described above, Attorney General Nessel testified before the EPA on August 19 to oppose its proposed rescission of the 2009 Endangerment Finding and motor vehicle greenhouse gas standards.

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