LOS ANGELES – City Attorney Mike Feuer today announced that Los Angeles has joined a broad national coalition of 19 U.S. states and seven cities filing comments in opposition to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed effort, at the direction of the Trump administration, to repeal Carbon Pollution Guidelines for existing power plants under the Clean Power Plan of 2015 and failing to have any alternative rules established. The coalition is led by the state of New York and includes a broad coalition of states Attorney Generals and cities including Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and the District of Columbia.

Based on the legal and scientific evidence presented in the comments, the coalition is demanding that the EPA abandon its proposed repeal of the Clean Power plan and instead consider rules and guidelines to strengthen pollution reductions.

"Our kids are counting on us to protect our environment," said Feuer. "Today cities and states across our nation stand united in the fight to reduce pollution and protect Americans' health and safety. It's grimly ironic that our opponent in this fight is the EPA, a fact that makes the roles of cities and states all the more important."

Published in October 2015, the Clean Power Plan sets limits on carbon pollution from existing power plants and other existing stationary sources across the country. The comments submitted by the coalition outline how repealing that plan, without replacing it with any alternative rules, would be a violation of the EPA’s obligations under the Clean Air Act.

The submitted comments also suggest that the EPA’s revised analysis of the Clean Power Plan and its proposal to repeal existing guidelines underestimates the regulations environmental health and safety benefits while exaggerating its costs.

A final copy of the submitted comments is here.

The complete list of entities signing the brief is:

State of New York

State of California

State of Connecticut

State of Delaware

State of Hawaii

State of Illinois

State of Iowa

State of Maine

State of Maryland

State of Massachusetts

State of Minnesota

State of New Mexico

State of North Carolina

State of Oregon

State of Pennsylvania

State of Rhode Island

State of Vermont

State of Virginia

State of Washington

District of Columbia

City of Bolder, Colorado

City of Chicago, Illinois

City of Los Angeles, California

City of New York, New York

City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

City of South Miami, Florida

Broward County, Florida