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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
August 19, 2025 |
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LANSING – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel testified today (PDF) before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in opposition to the agency’s proposed rescission of its landmark 2009 Endangerment Finding that greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles contribute to air pollution that drives climate change and endangers public health and welfare. The Trump Administration’s proposal, issued August 1, 2025, would forfeit EPA’s authority to regulate harmful air pollution that contributes to climate change and would eliminate all existing EPA vehicle emission standards in one fell swoop. A portion of Attorney General Nessel's testimony can be viewed on the Department of Attorney General's YouTube page.
“I strenuously oppose the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s unlawful and ill-conceived proposal to rescind its 2009 greenhouse gas endangerment finding,” Nessel said. “In 2009, the EPA determined that greenhouse gas pollutants present a very clear and immediate danger to our environment, economy, and to the world. This finding was supported by years of due diligence to evaluate the scientific consensus. This proposed rulemaking suggests we allow the federal government to ignore its own scientific determinations and abdicate their legal duty to take action. This simply cannot stand.”
The 2009 Endangerment Finding was the direct result of the landmark 2007 Supreme Court decision in Massachusetts v. EPA (PDF), which confirmed EPA’s authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gas emissions that threaten public health and welfare. After years of scientific review, EPA determined in 2009 that greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles contribute to air pollution that harms public health and welfare in numerous ways. EPA’s new proposal seeks to reverse that finding with no grounding in law or science.
In her testimony, Attorney General Nessel outlined the ongoing impacts of climate change in Michigan and warned that rescinding the 2009 Endangerment Finding would worsen these challenges while allowing the EPA to abandon its responsibility to protect residents from the dangers of greenhouse gases. Specific impacts already being felt in Michigan include:
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Climate change-induced droughts, pests, and shifting temperatures causing Michigan’s cherry farmers to lose an estimated 75% of their 2024 harvest;
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Warming winters endangering Michigan’s $3 billion winter tourism industry; and
- Canadian wildfires that have caused more than 20 days of air quality advisories so far this summer, creating serious health risks for residents.
“Constant regulatory chaos and uncertainty isn’t just bad for the environment; it is bad for businesses and everyday Michiganders rely on the EPA to do its job: implementing and enforcing the Clean Air Act,” Nessel added. “With this proposed recission, the EPA shows it has strayed from its mandate to protect the health and welfare of the American People in order to uplift an aging and out of touch fossil fuel industry.”
The U.S. transportation sector is the leading source of greenhouse gas emissions in the country and is responsible for more than 3% of all global greenhouse gas emissions. Motor vehicle emissions contribute to the formation of smog, as well as fine particle pollution and toxic air pollution, all of which are linked to premature death, respiratory illness, cardiovascular problems, and cancer, among other serious health impacts.
Attorney General Nessel is one of many attorneys general and public officials speaking out against the EPA’s flawed proposal. The comment period closes on September 22, 2025.
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