In an ongoing battle for the environment, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell is leading the charge against attempts to roll back critical climate measures. As reported by Mass.gov, AG Campbell co-led a group of 23 attorneys general, alongside city and county officials, in objecting to the proposed elimination of the EPA's 2009 Endangerment Finding. This landmark finding, which has been instrumental in the fight against greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles, is now under threat as the Trump Administration aims to rescind it, claiming the EPA lacks the authority to regulate climate-changing air pollution.
Last month saw the unveiling of this rollback proposal by the EPA, flying in the face of the Supreme Court's 2007 confirmation of the EPA's responsibility to address emissions threatening public health. AG Campbell, armed with a weighty 225-page comment letter, called out the proposal's defiance of "common sense, science, and the law." The letter, as her office highlighted, points out that the recission would not only flout settled law and the high court's precedent but also the clear scientific consensus on the climate crisis.
Science stands firm on this issue. Just last week, as the Mass.gov release noted, the National Academies of Sciences stated that the evidence supporting the original Endangerment Finding has only grown stronger over time. This directly contradicts the rationale of EPA's current proposal which rests upon the shaky foundation of a report from the now-dissolved Department of Energy's Climate Working Group—widely criticized for its lack of scientific support and legal basis.
Attorneys general and officials from across the nation have joined AG Campbell in this defense of environmental protections, filing multiple comment letters to the EPA. Their collective stance is clear: rolling back these standards poses a real threat to public health, safety, and the economies of states and cities, especially for communities already bearing the brunt of environmental inequalities. With the near-unanimous support of these leaders and backed by both legal and scientific gravitas, AG Campbell's coalition urges the EPA to maintain the 2009 Endangerment Finding and continue the advancement of vehicle emissions technology—a vital factor not only for the wellbeing of the American people but also for the ingenuity and strength of the nation's automotive industry.
Despite facing legal and scientific criticism themselves, the EPA's proposed undoing would wipe out years of advancements against climate harms. AG Campbell's opposition is one amongst many voices advocating for the progressive policies that safeguard our shared environment.
