California Attorney General Bonta Joins 27 States, Counties and Cities Opposing EPA Bid to Rescind Power Plant Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding
California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced in Oakland on November 2 that he has joined a coalition of 27 states, counties, and cities in opposing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) supplemental proposal to rescind its 2015 finding that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from fossil fuel power plants drive climate change and endanger public health and welfare, a move that would eliminate and prevent regulation of these emissions.
The 2015 finding, known as the Endangerment Finding for power plants, acknowledged that fossil fuel power plant GHG emissions significantly contribute to the pollution that is changing the climate and triggered EPA's duty to set limits on those emissions. EPA proposed rescinding the finding on different grounds last year, at the same time it proposed repealing the Biden Administration's GHG emissions standards for certain fossil fuel-fired power plants. Although EPA finalized the repeal of the Biden-era emissions standards, it did not finalize its proposed rescission of the Endangerment Finding, instead supplementing its proposal with arguments borrowed from EPA's rescission of the Endangerment Finding for motor vehicles, finalized in February 2026.
According to the Attorney General's office, if EPA finalizes the supplemental proposal, it will effectively abandon Section 111 of the Clean Air Act — the statutory tool that speaks directly to those emissions, as affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in Massachusetts v. EPA — and preclude future federal regulation of fossil fuel power plant GHG emissions. Bonta and the coalition urge EPA to withdraw the proposed rule and preserve its ability to use the Clean Air Act to limit power plant greenhouse gas emissions.
"The President can't keep burying his head in the sand and ignoring the truth. Climate change is real, it's caused by greenhouse gas emissions, and decades of settled science warned us this was coming. This proposal is a dangerous retreat from science, the law, and common sense," said Attorney General Bonta. "EPA's plan to rescind the Endangerment Finding for power plants puts Trump's Big Oil friends before the American people, who are already dealing with the impacts of destructive wildfires, scorching heat, and severe floods. That's why we're opposing this proposed rule and urging EPA to withdraw it."
Fossil fuel-fired power plants in the United States are one of the largest contributors to climate pollution in the world — if these power plants were a country, they would be the sixth-highest emitter on the planet, the office said. The power sector is the largest stationary source and second-largest overall source of GHG emissions in the United States, accounting for a quarter of all domestic emissions. Last year, two of the most destructive fires in state history — the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire, both in Los Angeles County — killed at least 30 people, destroyed over 16,000 homes and other structures, and damaged over 37,000 acres.
In the comment letter, the coalition asserts that the Clean Air Act directs EPA to regulate GHG emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants under Section 111 and that EPA cannot rewrite the Clean Air Act or overrule the U.S. Supreme Court; that futility is an impermissible reason not to regulate, particularly given that U.S. power sector emissions are the sixth largest source of GHG emissions in the world; and that the supplemental proposal is arbitrary and capricious because EPA failed to adequately explain its change in position or consider serious reliance interests, failed to quantify or monetize GHG, ozone, and particulate matter impacts, and failed to consider impacts on grid reliability or electricity affordability.
In submitting the comment letter, Bonta joins the attorneys general of New York, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia, along with the Chief Legal Officers of the City of Chicago, the City and County of Denver, the City of New York, and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.
(Source: California Attorney General's Office)
Source: California Attorney General's Office
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于 Sacramento 的加州总检察长办公室大楼（1300 I Street）。Coolcaesar 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The California Attorney General's office building in Sacramento. Photo by Coolcaesar, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
