A 21-state coalition with big-city allies

Twenty-one states led by New York sued the Trump administration on Thursday over its repeal of rules limiting greenhouse gas emissions from power plants fueled by coal and natural gas. In its petition, the coalition asks the US court of appeals for the District of Columbia to review the EPA's decision and strike down the repeal.

Pennsylvania's governor, the District of Columbia, New York City, Chicago and the city and county of Denver have also joined the Democratic-led coalition. The states behind the suit are:

• •New York, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey and New Mexico
• •North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin

Why the coalition calls the repeal unlawful

The suit argues that one of the country's most significant climate protections has been gutted, a move the coalition says would set the nation back decades and worsen the climate crisis. It claims the EPA unlawfully abandoned the pollution limits without properly weighing reasonable alternatives or the health and climate costs of allowing more pollution. The coalition has also told the agency it intends to sue over the failure to regulate pollution from many gas-fired power plants.

New York attorney general Letitia James said the federal government is showing "callous disregard" for Americans' health and the environment, with future generations set to pay the price. In a statement on Thursday, she said dismantling these protections betrays American families. James said the stakes are too high to allow the administration to once again put profits over people.

The rule the EPA is revoking

Last month, the EPA said it would revoke the Biden-era power plant rule. The change, first proposed last year, reverses course from the climate efforts of Democrats Joe Biden and Barack Obama on regulating carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Plants burning fossil fuels rank as a major source of planet-warming pollution.

Alongside the repeal, the agency is taking a separate but related step meant to stop future administrations from regulating climate pollution from power plants. That proposal follows the EPA's action earlier this year revoking the scientific finding long central to US greenhouse gas regulation and climate action, and is expected to be made final next year.

The EPA's defense and the broader climate litigation

In announcing the repeal, the EPA put industry savings at more than $300bn and said the move would help "unleash" American energy. Assistant administrator Aaron Szabo said in September that the change lets utilities "make the best decision for the ratepayers based on cost and cost savings, instead of being required to shut down facilities". Contacted about the suit, the EPA said Thursday that it does not comment on pending litigation.

The filing lands as the Supreme Court prepares to hear a landmark case on Monday, the first day of its new term, in which the city and county of Boulder, Colorado, is suing oil and gas companies to help pay for damage from climate-linked disasters. That dispute is part of a wave of climate litigation in the US and worldwide with billions of dollars at stake.

The repeal will now face review at the US court of appeals for the District of Columbia, while the EPA's companion proposal on future climate regulation of power plants is expected to be made final next year.