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City of Chicago Challenges EPA Rollback of Power Plant Pollution Limits

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CHICAGO — The City of Chicago today joined a coalition of 25 states, counties, and cities in suing the Trump administration for dismantling federal greenhouse gas pollution limits for many of the nation's largest power plants. In September, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) repealed safeguards that required coal- and gas-fired power plants to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, clearing the way for a significant increase in pollution that will worsen extreme heat, deadly storms, flooding, and wildfire smoke. Chicago and the coalition are filing a petition for review in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, asking the court to strike down the repeal and restore these protections. The coalition is also notifying EPA of its intent to sue over the agency's continued failure to fully regulate pollution from existing natural gas power plants.

"Future generations are going to pay the price for our federal government's callous disregard for Americans' health and the environment," said New York Attorney General Letitia James. "This administration's insistence on giving the nation's biggest polluters a free pass will set our country back decades in the fight against climate change. Dismantling these protections is a betrayal of American families, and the stakes are too high to allow this administration to once again put profits over people."

"When our residents' right to clean air is threatened, we will stand up and use every tool at our disposal to protect our communities from environmental threats," said Mayor Brandon Johnson. "As the federal government acquiesces to corporate greed while threatening the health and well-being of working people, Chicago is proudly standing shoulder-to-shoulder with our partners across the country to use the legal system to tell the Trump administration that its rollbacks are unacceptable, that its actions recklessly and callously bring harm to the most vulnerable among us, and that Chicago won't back down."

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"Americans cannot afford the impact of unchecked climate change," said Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul. "The Trump administration is yet again jeopardizing the environment and public health and safety by trying to dismantle essential regulations. I proudly stand against this reckless and unlawful attempt to strike down science-backed emission standards that protect the environment and our health."

Chicago and the coalition are challenging EPA's repeal of the 2024 Carbon Pollution Standards, which required many of the country's largest power plants to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Power plants are among the largest drivers of the climate crisis, producing roughly one-quarter of the nation's carbon dioxide emissions.

Rather than hold those polluters accountable, the federal administration erased federal pollution limits for most gas- and coal-fired power plants and introduced a proposal to eliminate power plant greenhouse gas emission regulation entirely.

Eliminating limits on these emissions threatens communities across the country. More climate pollution contributes to more frequent and more intense heat waves that put children, older adults, and workers at risk. It also contributes to stronger storms and heavier flooding that damage homes, businesses, and transit systems, as well as more wildfire smoke that makes air dangerous to breathe.

Increased pollution from fossil fuel power plants can worsen asthma, heart disease, and other serious respiratory illnesses, especially in low-income and other overburdened communities. These changes also increase the financial burden on local and state governments that must spend billions of dollars recovering from increasingly extreme weather.

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In the lawsuit, the coalition will argue that EPA unlawfully abandoned these pollution limits without properly considering reasonable alternatives or the enormous health and climate costs of allowing more pollution into the atmosphere. The coalition will assert that the rescission was arbitrary and capricious because EPA did not properly calculate the cost of repealing the rule. The coalition is asking the court to strike down this unlawful rollback of environmental protections and ensure the United States can keep limiting pollution from many of the nation's biggest polluters.

In addition, Chicago and the coalition today filed a notice of intent to sue EPA over the agency's continued failure to regulate greenhouse gas pollution from many existing gas-fired power plants. Those facilities, including "peaker" plants that often operate during periods of high electricity demand, are frequently located in low-income communities and communities of color that already bear a disproportionate share of pollution.

Despite issuing standards for new gas plants over a decade ago, EPA has never fulfilled its legal obligation to limit pollution from existing gas plants. By delaying these protections for years, EPA has left many frontline communities without the safeguards required by the Clean Air Act.

Joining Chicago in filing today's lawsuit, which was led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia, as well as the Governor of Pennsylvania and the Mayors of New York City and the City and County of Denver.

To date, the City's Law Department has participated in nearly 80 challenges against the Trump Administration rebuking harmful federal action, including 16 lawsuits, 40 amicus briefs, and 22 federal comments. These legal actions have pushed back against the withholding of SNAP benefits, attempts to end birthright citizenship and DEI programs, restrictions on transgender rights, and more.

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