Attorney General Phil Weiser challenges EPA rollback of power plant pollution limits

Attorney General Phil Weiser challenges EPA rollback of power plant pollution limits

Oct. 1, 2026 (DENVER) - Attorney General Phil Weiser today joined a coalition of 25 states, counties, and cities in suing the Trump administration for scrapping federal greenhouse gas pollution limits for many of the nation's largest power plants. In September, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency repealed safeguards that required coal- and gas-fired power plants to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, clearing the way for a significant increase in pollution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 wildfires.

Attorney General Weiser 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.

"Colorado is committed to taking climate action, moving forward in our clean energy transition and protecting our public health," Attorney General Weiser said. "This administration's attacks on protections for our land, air and water are wrong, harmful to Coloradans, and illegal. That's why we are fighting back and standing up for clean air and for communities that are disproportionately impacted by pollution."

The lawsuit challenges 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 climate change, 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 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 and businesses, as well as more wildfires. These changes also increase the financial burden on local and state governments that must spend billions of dollars recovering from increasingly extreme weather.

In their 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. They will explain 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, Attorney General Weiser and the coalition also 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 peaking 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 Attorney General Weiser in filing today's lawsuit, which was led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, 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, the mayors of New York City and Chicago, and the City and County of Denver.

Read the petition for review carbon pollution standards repeal (PDF).

Read the intent to sue existing stationary combustion turbines (PDF).

###

Media Contact:
Lawrence Pacheco
Chief Communications Officer
(720) 508-6553 office
[email protected]