Gavin Newsom vows to sue Trump govt over decision to revoke EPA findings: ‘Breaking the law to grovel to oil industry’

California Governor Gavin Newsom has vowed to take legal action against the federal government after President Donald Trump's administration, on 12 February, decided to repeal the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s landmark climate findings.

According to critics, the decision may seriously weaken environmental protection by scrapping the EPA's "endangerment finding", which has been the legal foundation for regulating the emission of man-made greenhouse gases for almost 20 years.

“Donald Trump's administration is falsely claiming that greenhouse gases are not a threat to public health — breaking the law to once again grovel to the oil industry,” Newsom said on X (formerly Twitter), adding that California will fight this “lawless action” in court.

In a separate statement by Newsom's office, the governor claimed that the decision betrays the American people and cements the Republican Party's status as the “pro-pollution” party.

"If this reckless decision survives legal challenges, it will lead to more deadly wildfires, more extreme heat deaths, more climate-driven floods and droughts, and greater threats to communities nationwide — all while the EPA dismisses the overwhelming science that has protected public health for decades,” the statement published a day earlier read.

President Donald Trump announced the decision at the White House, calling into question the scientific basis of the original finding. "This determination had no basis in fact whatsoever,” he said.

The 2009 endangerment finding was the main legal reason the US government could set climate regulations. It allowed authorities to limit greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles, factories, and power stations because these sources are known to cause global warming.

By overturning the finding, Trump and his administration has essentially removed the central legal justification under which a broad range of climate rules were enacted over the past decade and a half.

Meanwhile, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin defended the decision to scrap the finding, framing it as a rejection of what he described as ‘burdensome and unnecessary’ climate mandates.

Just last month, Trump ordered the United States to withdraw from dozens of international bodies, including the world’s central climate treaty and the UN’s leading climate science authority.