“Donald Trump is breaking the laws that protect Americans from climate pollution — all to enrich his Big Oil and his wealthy polluting allies. Workers, families, and communities would pay the price, left choking on dirty air. No one is above the law in this country. Not even the president. We’ll fight this lawlessness in court,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said.
California has filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s repeal of the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s Endangerment Finding, the formal recognition of the fact that greenhouse gases pose a critical danger to public health and welfare.
In a press release, California officials said that the Clean Air Act is clear and that the EPA has “an affirmative duty to protect public health and welfare from air pollutants, including greenhouse gases—a responsibility the Supreme Court affirmed in 2007,” two years before the Endangerment Finding was released.
“By repealing the Endangerment Finding, the Trump administration is not exercising its scientific judgment,” officials said. “It is breaking the law.”
In an attached statement, California Gov. Gavin Newsom went so far as to characterize the finding’s repeal as blatant corruption, ostensibly for the personal benefit of President Donald Trump and his billionaire allies in the oil and gas industry.
“This is what corruption looks like,” Newsom said.
“Donald Trump is breaking the laws that protect Americans from climate pollution — all to enrich his Big Oil and his wealthy polluting allies. Workers, families, and communities would pay the price, left choking on dirty air. No one is above the law in this country. Not even the president. We’ll fight this lawlessness in court,” he said.
Newsom’s stance was reiterated and expanded upon by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who emphasized that climate change is a scientifically-accepted fact, irrespective of how conservative politicians might try to portray it.
“With the unlawful rescission of the Endangerment Finding, President Trump and his EPA have abandoned their most important mission: protecting the health and welfare of the American people. The science doesn’t lie: Climate change and GHG emissions are harming public health and causing devastating and ever-worsening disasters. Our communities have felt the impact of destructive wildfires, watched families run from burning homes, inhaling toxic fumes, and we’ve seen entire communities wash away in severe floods. The President can’t keep his head in the sand — climate change is real and decades of settled science warned us this was coming,” Bonta said. “Let me be clear: This unlawful rescission is not about cutting ’red tape.’ The president is choosing Big Oil profits over our health, and betting that the American people won’t notice the cost until the bill comes due at the expense of our communities. We will not stand idly by while the federal government abdicates its responsibility to protect the public and follow the law. California will vigorously defend the Endangerment Finding in court and continue to fight to protect our communities, our health, and our natural resources.”
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