| Houston, Texas – Harris County has joined a coalition of states, counties, and cities to challenge the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s unlawful attempt to rescind its 2009 Endangerment Finding—the agency’s landmark determination that greenhouse gas pollution from motor vehicles drives climate change and endangers public health and welfare. “The science around the EPA’s Endangerment Finding has not changed. We know that greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane endanger public health,” said Harris County Attorney Jonathan Fombonne. “Rolling back the federal government’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions disregards both established science and the real-world consequences of climate change. It also undermines critical protections that help reduce asthma attacks, heart and lung disease, and other serious health impacts, particularly in vulnerable communities. Ignoring science does not eliminate risk—it puts all of our futures at risk.” “Many Black and Brown, working class communities in my precinct rank among the most polluted metro areas in the country, measurably impacting life expectancy and quality of life. The Trump Administration’s reckless rollback of the Endangerment Finding would put these vulnerable communities, like Settegast, at even greater risk. By joining other states, counties, and cities in this lawsuit, Harris County is defending climate science, protecting tools to cut greenhouse gas pollution, and fighting to protect the health of our residents,” said Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis. Harris County faces disproportionate impacts from climate change, including stronger hurricanes, more frequent and severe flooding, and extreme heat that threatens public health and infrastructure. The Endangerment Finding has served as a critical legal foundation for federal action to reduce emissions that contribute to these risks. Without it, the EPA lacks clear authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, eliminating a central mechanism for federal climate protections. The 2009 Endangerment Finding was the direct result of the landmark 2007 Supreme Court decision in Massachusetts v. EPA, which confirmed that the Clean Air Act authorizes EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions that endanger public health and welfare. Based on years of rigorous scientific analysis, EPA determined in 2009 that emissions from motor vehicles contribute to air pollution that harms public health and the environment, leading to federal standards that have significantly reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Now, nearly two decades later, EPA has rushed a rulemaking process to rescind the Endangerment Finding and repeal all motor vehicle greenhouse gas standards, disregarding both the law and the science. The agency’s action relies on flawed legal interpretations—previously rejected by the Supreme Court—and ignores decades of peer-reviewed scientific evidence confirming the reality and severity of climate change. By eliminating these standards, the rule violates EPA’s legal obligations and its mission to protect public health and welfare. Co-led by the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, New York, and Massachusetts, the coalition includes attorneys general from across the country, along with multiple cities and counties, including Harris County, Texas. |