Trump regulation rollbacks will result in more than 200 million tons of additional greenhouse emissions each year – “The Trump administration has taken historically unprecedented actions to roll back years of environmental progress”
WASHINGTON, D.C., 5 March 2019 (NYU School of Law) – Today, the State Energy & Environmental Impact Center at the NYU School of Law announced the release of a Special Report detailing the extensive climate change and public health damage caused by the Trump administration’s environmental deregulatory agenda. In its Special Report, titled “Climate & Health Showdown in the Courts: State Attorneys General Prepare to Fight,” the State Impact Center highlights how state attorneys general are leading the fight to prevent the rollback of six essential federal rules, which would lead to annual increases of more than 200 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions in the United States.
The Special Report features in-depth analysis of how the Trump administration’s environmental rollbacks are designed to benefit the coal, automotive, oil & gas and landfill industries, which are collectively responsible for nearly 50 percent of national greenhouse gas emissions. The six key areas examined by the Special Report include the following:
- The Coal Industry: Clean Power Plan (CO2)
- The Automotive Industry: Clean Car Standards (CO2)
- The Automotive Industry: Glider Truck Pollution (CO2)
- The Oil & Gas Industry: Methane emissions (new and existing sources)
- The Oil & Gas Industry: Methane emissions (public lands)
- The Landfill Industry: Methane emissions
“This Special Report unmasks the Trump administration’s plan to give a climate pollution pass to industries that represent almost half of all greenhouse gas emissions in the United States,” said David J. Hayes, Executive Director for the State Energy & Environmental Impact Center. “State attorneys general will not let the administration get away with its brazen attempt to turn major industries’ legal obligations to reduce damaging pollution into an invitation to continue to pollute — climate effects and adverse health impacts be damned.”
On a rule-by-rule basis, the economic, public health and environmental impacts of these deregulatory actions are enormous. They will result in hundreds of billions of dollars in forgone benefits, while also causing millions of additional asthma attacks and tens of thousands of additional premature deaths. And, while the Trump administration attempts to justify its agenda with economic arguments rooted in cost savings to industry, those savings are miniscule in comparison to the significant costs imposed on the public.
For example, rolling back the national Clean Car Standards is estimated to cost American drivers between $193 billion and $236 billion dollars in added fuel expense by 2035, as well as $18 billion in climate and public health costs each year. Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s proposal to replace the Clean Power Plan would generate increases in air pollution that could lead to 1,630 premature deaths, 120,000 additional asthma attacks, 140,000 missed school days and 48,000 lost work days by 2030. The Special Report details how these impacts disproportionately fall on vulnerable communities, as highlighted time and again by state attorneys general.
The rollbacks also directly contravene the Trump administration’s legal obligation to act on climate change under the Clean Air Act and the Environmental Protection Agency’s own unambiguous finding that greenhouse gases endanger human health and welfare
Finally, the Special Report carefully explains how the Trump’s administration’s deregulatory agenda fundamentally disregards the interests of states in protecting public health and the environment and threatens the cooperative federalism approach that has delivered strong environmental results for decades. The state attorneys general challenging these misguided actions have demonstrated that progressive environmental policies can work hand in hand with economic growth, and they will continue to fight this administration’s efforts to turn back the clock and weaken bedrock environmental protections.
Statements from state Attorneys General
- “Despite the EPA’s own evidence to the contrary, the Trump administration has worked at breakneck speed to roll back years of progress to combat climate change. The administration has chosen to side with the coal, oil, and gas industries, jeopardizing the health of millions of Americans and threatening our air, land, and water,” said Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh. “Time and time again, the Trump administration has chosen to ignore its responsibility to protect our health and our economy, ignore documented evidence of global warming, and halt states’ attempts to implement common sense clean air and clean energy regulations.”
- “It is no secret that climate change is greatly impacting our planet and our lives every single day,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James.“As the Trump Administration continues to advance policies that will cause even greater harm to our resources and our health, it is up to State Attorneys General to lead the fight to stop these policies and protect Americans. I am proud that New York is leading the charge to challenge this backwards agenda and I thank the State Energy & Environmental Impact Center at NYU School of Law for this report and their partnership.”
- “Day after day, the Trump Administration acts to enrich the fossil fuel industry at the expense of our planet and the American people,” said Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey. “As this report makes clear, the states will continue to stand up for our residents and our clean energy future. Our coalition is strong, it’s growing, and we’re winning.”
- “In California, where we’re number one in clean energy and sell more zero-emission vehicles than any other state, we can’t afford to backslide. We’ve seen the effects of climate change, from record wildfires to massive mudslides. As this report makes clear, the effects of climate change threaten states across our great nation,” said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. “We can only expect this emergency to worsen if the Trump Administration rolls back our nation’s Clean Car standards. We shouldn’t have to go to federal court to make our case: the facts and science speak for themselves.”
- “This report confirms what we already feared — that the federal government’s environmental rollbacks will have a devastating impact on our climate and our health,” said New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal. “Washington should be doing more to combat climate change, instead of falling down on the job. That’s why I’m proud to join my fellow Attorneys General in standing up to the Administration and opposing these actions in court.”
Contact
Christopher Gray, Christopher.Gray@nyu.edu, (929)-333-6213
Putting the risks of regulatory rollbacks into perspective
As detailed extensively in this report, the Trump administration has taken historically unprecedented actions to roll back years of environmental progress. From reversing reasonable Clean Car Standards, to weakening requirements for fossil-fueled power plants, to refusing to regulate harmful methane emissions from landfills and oil and gas operations, the cumulative impacts of the administration’s environmental attacks pose grave harms to our environment and to people living in every state across America.
Prior to the Trump administration taking office, the cooperative federalism approach of our nation’s bedrock environmental laws had allowed states and federal agencies to make real progress in working together to achieve environmental goals – ensuring that every American has access to clean and healthy air to breathe and addressing the crisis of climate change.
And while Trump Administration officials have claimed a commitment to working cooperatively with states, in reality, their actions are undermining state efforts to ensure cleaner air and transition to cleaner sources of energy. Clean energy leaders in states spanning all across the country are faced with the prospect of increased greenhouse gas emissions, leading to adverse health impacts for residents and exacerbating the increasingly dire impacts of a changing climate. As just one example, the administration is fundamentally ignoring its professed interest in states’ rights by attempting to strip away California’s legal right to set vehicle greenhouse gas emissions standards — and by extension the rights of the dozen additional states that have lawfully adopted California’s standards.
The stakes could not be higher. The coalition of states currently aligned against the rollback of the Clean Car Standards, for instance, represent more than 50 percent of the U.S. population and more than 50 percent of all registered vehicles. Using the legal tools of the Clean Air Act, these states have been able to lower their emissions over the past two decades, with total vehicle emissions in 2016 achieving a net 3 percent reduction in comparison to 2000. Now all of that progress is in question.
Similarly, the multi-state coalition of 19 attorneys general challenging the administration’s attempts to dismantle the Clean Power Plan have spent more than 15 years designing flexible policies that limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and and incentivize the creation of new clean energy sources for electricity generation. Through their actions, they have succeeded in moving their states forward to cleaner sources of energy and reducing their dependence on fossil fuelfired power. The Trump administration’s proposed replacement rule for the Clean Power Plan now threatens that success, with the EPA’s own analysis showing that the replacement could lead to increases in emissions in a number of states as older, dirtier, uneconomical coal-fired power plants are propped up and enabled to run far past their useful life cycles.
Many of the states challenging the Trump administration’s deregulatory agenda have spent years designing thoughtful policies aimed at preparing for and managing the risks associated with climate change. The coalition includes all ten of the states (California, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware, North Carolina, Maryland, Washington and Virginia) that have been recognized as having the best and most wide-ranging climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies by independent analysts.
The state attorneys general challenging each of the actions discussed in this Special Report are doing so because they are committed to protecting their states from the catastrophic consequences of climate change, and protecting their most vulnerable populations from dangerous levels of pollution. States have been first-hand witnesses to the devastating impacts associated with a rapidly changing climate — extreme heat, drought, wildfires, inland and coastal flooding — all of which place state populations in danger, strain limited state fiscal resources, and impede economic productivity.
In challenging this administration’s actions, these states are also seeking to protect their most vulnerable populations. The state attorneys general know that a lack of strong environmental standards will have a disproportionate impact on vulnerable populations. Despite significant progress made in reducing emissions, the states discussed in this Special Report still represent a majority of communities suffering from chronic ozone and particulate matter air pollution. Of the American Lung Association’s top 25 most polluted cities by ozone, 16 are located in states opposing the roll back of Clean Car Standards, as are 13 of the 25 most polluted cities by year-round PM2.5, and 15 of the 25 most polluted cities by short-term PM2.5. All 11 of the areas designated as “extreme, severe, serious, or moderate” nonattainment with the 2015 National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ozone (8-hour average) are located in states that are opposing the rollback of the EPA’s limits on new glider trucks.
The twin priorities of preserving their states’ rights to set effective environmental policies and protecting vulnerable environmental justice communities have led the state attorneys general to mount their historic legal opposition to the Trump administration’s environmental agenda, and they will continue to fight against the administration’s unlawful and misguided actions
Climate & Health Showdown in the Courts: State Attorneys General Prepare to Fight
