The lawsuit, filed March 31, targets the administration's rollback of the 2024 MATS Rule, which implements nationwide standards that limit emissions of toxic air pollutants from coal- and oil-fired power plants. The Environmental Protection Agency had updated the standards in 2024 following significant developments in pollution control technologies, according to the Connecticut Attorney General's office. The Trump administration rolled back the updated standard last month.
"Again and again, Trump is selling out our health and environment to enrich his fossil fuel friends," Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said. "Big Oil knows how to limit these toxic pollutants. It's not hard or particularly costly. Trump just doesn't care."
"We're suing today to protect Connecticut families from lifelong developmental harm and disease," Tong added.
The coalition argues that the repeal is unlawful because the EPA failed to provide a reasoned basis for it and failed to adequately consider developments in practices, processes and control technologies, according to the announcement. The states contend the agency is attempting to revert to outdated standards.
Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that poses serious dangers to public health, especially for pregnant women and children, the attorneys general said. A pregnant person's consumption of mercury exposes their child to mercury and can cause lifelong developmental harms and neurological disorders such as seizures, vision and hearing loss, or delayed development. In adults, exposure increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and autoimmune dysfunction, according to the coalition.
The emissions can also travel great distances and be deposited into other states, the announcement said. Mercury emissions from power plants are also a major contributor to mercury contamination in U.S. waterways, harming local commercial and recreation fishing economies, as well as tribal nations and indigenous peoples that rely on fishing for subsistence.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison led the coalition. Joining them are the attorneys general of Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin, along with the city of Chicago, the city of New York and Harris County, Texas.