Attorney General James Fights Back Against EPA’s Attempts to Deny Climate Change

September 22, 2025

NEW YORK - New York Attorney General Letitia James is co-leading a coalition of attorneys general, counties, and cities in a series of actions opposing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) unlawful proposal to rescind its landmark 2009 Endangerment Finding, which established that greenhouse gas emissions drive climate change and pose a threat to public health and welfare. Attorney General James and the coalition assert that the administration's proposal would irreversibly damage the nation's efforts to combat the climate crisis by abandoning the fight to regulate harmful air pollution.

"Climate change is real, it is dangerous, and it is already hurting communities in New York and across the nation," said Attorney General James. "With this reckless proposal, the EPA is ignoring science in favor of abandoning its responsibility to protect the American people. Rolling back these critical protections would worsen asthma, heart disease, and premature deaths, and put vulnerable communities at even greater risk. My office will always fight to defend science, protect public health, and hold the federal government accountable."

In a comment letter submitted to EPA today, Attorney General James and the coalition argue that rescinding the Endangerment Finding would violate settled law, binding Supreme Court precedent, and overwhelming scientific consensus. The coalition warns that reversing course would endanger the health and safety of millions of Americans, particularly vulnerable populations such as children, seniors, low-income communities, and workers already disproportionately harmed by climate change and air pollution. The coalition points to harms like extreme heat, worsening storms, wildfires, and flooding as examples of the growing threats that would be impacted by abandoning these protections - protections that the EPA is legally obligated to uphold under the Clean Air Act, which requires EPA to regulate air pollution, including greenhouse gas emissions, that endanger public health and welfare.

In a second letter to EPA today, Attorney General James and the coalition emphasize the importance of preserving strong federal motor vehicle emissions standards. For decades, EPA has recognized that pollution from cars and trucks contributes to asthma, heart disease, impaired lung development, low birthweight, and premature death. Current standards are projected to prevent more than eight billion metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions over the next 30 years and avoid $1.82 trillion in climate harms. In today's letter, Attorney General James and the coalition argue that rolling back these protections would violate the Clean Air Act and harm public health, hinder American innovation, and place U.S. automakers at a competitive disadvantage in global markets that increasingly prioritize zero- and low-emission vehicles.

Earlier this month, Attorney General James led a coalition in a separate comment letter opposing a flawed and unlawful report from the Department of Energy's (DOE) Climate Working Group, which forms the supposed scientific basis for EPA's proposed rescission. The report was drafted in less than two months by well-known climate skeptics with no peer review, and the coalition argues that the final report ignores federal standards of scientific integrity and fails to comply with the Federal Advisory Committee Act. They also allege the report is riddled with inaccuracies and mischaracterizations of decades of peer-reviewed climate science. In the letter, Attorney General James and the coalition urged DOE to withdraw the report entirely. Last month, Attorney General James and the coalition also filed an amicus brief challenging the report, arguing that the federal government cannot rely on such unlawful and unreliable findings to justify climate policy.

Attorney General James emphasizes that failing to act on climate change will have - and is already having - deadly consequences. In the past 20 years, the number of billion-dollar climate disasters in New York State has more than doubled compared to the previous 20 years. There have also been over 90 percent more fatalities due to extreme heat, severe floods and storms, and hurricanes. New York City alone now averages over 500 heat-related deaths each year, largely the result of greenhouse gas emissions and their effect on our climate.

These coordinated actions, which Attorney General James co-led with the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, reflect a broad coalition of states, counties, and cities united in defense of the Endangerment Finding, federal vehicle standards, and the scientific foundation of national climate policy. Together, the coalition is urging EPA to abandon its unlawful and unsupported proposal and to recommit to its duty under the Clean Air Act to protect public health and welfare from the harms of greenhouse gas emissions.

Joining Attorney General James in several of these actions are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia. Also joining several actions are the Chief Legal Officers of the City and County of Denver, City and County of San Francisco, Martin Luther King Jr. County, Washington, and the Cities of Chicago and New York.