Vermont, New York back multistate challenge to EPA refrigerant rule

The lawsuit says the substances at issue are among the fastest-rising sources of greenhouse gas emissions and can trap heat at levels far greater than carbon dioxide.

Vermont and New York have joined a coalition of 18 states and the City of New York in taking the EPA to court over a rule change that opponents say would slow the move away from hydrofluorocarbons, a class of climate-warming chemicals used in refrigeration and cooling systems.

The states want the U.S. Court of Appeals to review the agency’s revised approach, contending the policy conflicts with federal law and that the EPA has not adequately explained why it shifted course. The lawsuit says the substances at issue are among the fastest-rising sources of greenhouse gas emissions and can trap heat at levels far greater than carbon dioxide, with some estimates putting them at as much as 10,000 times the potency of an equivalent amount of carbon dioxide.

New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement that the effects of climate change are already visible through wildfire smoke, severe storms, flooding and extreme heat, and argued that Congress enacted a bipartisan law to curb especially dangerous greenhouse gases because delays would carry too high a cost. She said the EPA should not sidestep that law or place communities at greater risk.

Along with Vermont and New York, the petition includes California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin, the District of Columbia and the City of New York.