US: Trump's EPA Sued by Environmentalist, Health Groups

February 19, 2026 | 09:40 am

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Several US environmental and health groups filed suit against the administration of President Donald Trump over the repeal of a key scientific rule behind federal climate change-related regulations.

The suit was filed in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in Washington, arguing that the administration's revoking of the 2009 "endangerment finding" is illegal.

The 2009 "endangerment finding" came about as a result of a prolonged legal battle that ended in a 2007 Supreme Court ruling, Massachusetts v. EPA, where it was determined that greenhouse gases qualify as pollutants under the Clean Air Act.

The ruling directed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to determine whether they pose a danger to public health and welfare and it did so, based on overwhelming scientific consensus that six greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare by fueling climate change.

But Trump has dismissed concerns about the consequences of repealing 2009 "endangerment finding."

The US president has claimed that human-caused climate change is a hoax and said that repealing the "endangerment finding" would generate more than $1 trillion (€840 billion) in regulatory savings and make cars cheaper, as standards for vehicle emissions would change.

A 'handout to oil companies'

Backing the legal challenge against Trump are the American Lung Association, the Clean Air Council, the Union of Concerned Scientists, the Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity.

"We're suing to stop Trump from torching our kids' future in favor of a monster handout to oil companies," said David Pettit, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, in a statement.

"Nobody but Big Oil profits from Trump trashing climate science and making cars and trucks guzzle and pollute more. Consumers will pay more to fill up, and our skies and oceans will fill up with more pollution. The EPA's rollbacks are based on political poppycock, not science or law, and the courts should see it that way," the statement said.

The rollback of the 2009 rule has been broadly condemned by environmental groups and many members of the Democratic party, so legal action against the White House was expected.

Joanne Spalding of the Sierra Club said in a statement Wednesday the rule's repeal would have "disastrous consequences for the American people, our health, and our shared future."

"This shortsighted rollback is blatantly unlawful and their efforts to force this upon the American people will fail," she added.

The legal challenge could make its way back to the Supreme Court, forcing justices to revisit the court's own ruling in favor of the measure.

Read: What Trump's EPA Rollback Means for Emissions

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