Attorney General Nessel Challenges EPA Rollback of Power Plant Pollution Limits

LANSING – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has joined a coalition of 25 states, counties, and cities in suing the Trump administration for dismantling federal greenhouse gas pollution limits for many of the nation’s largest power plants. In September, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) repealed safeguards that required coal- and gas-fired power plants to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, clearing the way for a significant increase in pollution that will worsen extreme heat, deadly storms, flooding, and wildfire smoke. Attorney General Nessel and the coalition are filing a petition for review in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit asking the court to strike down the repeal and restore these protections. The coalition is also notifying EPA of its intent to sue over the agency’s continued failure to fully regulate pollution from existing natural gas power plants.

“Michiganders know what extreme weather can do to our homes, our roads and our communities,” said Attorney General Nessel. “More pollution from coal- and gas-fired power plants will add to the heat, storms, flooding and wildfire smoke we are already seeing. These hazards already affect us in very real ways. We cannot ignore them while giving some of the country’s largest polluters a free pass. Michigan will keep fighting to protect our residents and our environment.”

Attorney General Nessel and the coalition are challenging EPA’s repeal of the 2024 Carbon Pollution Standards, which required many of the country's largest power plants to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Power plants are among the largest drivers of the climate crisis, producing roughly one-quarter of the nation’s carbon dioxide emissions. Rather than hold those polluters accountable, the federal administration erased federal pollution limits for most gas- and coal-fired power plants and introduced a proposal to eliminate power plant emission regulations entirely.

In their lawsuit, the coalition will argue that EPA unlawfully abandoned these pollution limits without properly considering reasonable alternatives or the enormous health and climate costs of allowing more pollution into the atmosphere. They will assert that the rescission was arbitrary and capricious because EPA did not properly calculate the cost of repealing the rule. The coalition is asking the court to strike down this unlawful rollback of environmental protections and ensure the United States can keep limiting pollution from many of the nation’s biggest polluters.

In addition, Attorney General Nessel and the coalition have filed a notice of intent to sue EPA over the agency’s continued failure to regulate greenhouse gas pollution from many existing gas-fired power plants, including “peaker” plants that often operate during periods of high electricity demand. Despite issuing standards for new gas plants over a decade ago, EPA has never fulfilled its legal obligation to limit pollution from existing gas plants. By delaying these protections for years, EPA has left many frontline communities without the safeguards required by the Clean Air Act.

Joining Attorney General Nessel in filing this lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin, as well as the Governor of Pennsylvania, the Mayors of New York City and Chicago, and the City and County of Denver.

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