Twenty-one US states, joined by local governments and Pennsylvania’s governor, filed a challenge on October 1 to the Environmental Protection Agency’s repeal of federal carbon limits for coal- and gas-fired power plants. New York Attorney General Letitia James is leading the coalition, which asked the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to set aside the agency’s decision.
The dispute concerns the 2024 Carbon Pollution Standards, which required many large fossil-fuel power plants to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The EPA finalized a partial repeal on September 14 and separately proposed removing the remaining federal greenhouse gas standards for power plants. The new court filing challenges the completed repeal; the broader proposal is a separate, unfinished action.
The coalition says the EPA abandoned the limits without adequately examining alternatives or accounting for the health and climate costs of additional pollution. The New York attorney general’s office says power plants produce roughly one-quarter of US carbon dioxide emissions. The states argue that removing the rules could increase emissions and worsen climate-related harms, including heat, flooding and wildfire smoke.
The EPA disputes that assessment. In announcing the repeal, it said the 2024 requirements relied on carbon-control technology that had not been adequately demonstrated at the necessary scale and could force plants to close. The agency estimates that the repeal will save up to $310 billion across the economy. An EPA spokesperson told the Associated Press that the agency does not comment on pending litigation.
Alongside the court petition, the coalition gave the EPA notice that it intends to sue over the lack of greenhouse gas limits for many existing natural-gas power plants. The attorney general’s office said those facilities include plants used during peaks in electricity demand, some of which are in communities already exposed to heavy pollution. That notice is distinct from the challenge to the September repeal.
The appeals court must now consider whether the EPA followed the Clean Air Act and administrative requirements when it withdrew the 2024 limits. A ruling could determine whether the repealed standards return, while the EPA’s separate proposal to eliminate the remaining power-plant greenhouse gas rules continues through its own regulatory process.
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