Environmental groups challenge climate study used to justify endangerment finding repeal

The US Department of Energy violated federal advisory committee laws when it created a climate report to justify the repeal of the US Environmental Protection Agency's endangerment finding, environmental groups said in a lawsuit.

The suit said that the DOE study — which claimed that the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions on the nation's climate are probably not as severe as many scientists believe — violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) by relying on an "unaccountable" and "secret" climate working group to make its claims. FACA is a Nixon-era statute that requires government committees to consist of balanced viewpoints and hold public meetings.

The Environmental Defense Fund and the Union of Concerned Scientists are the plaintiffs in the suit.

"The public deserves transparent climate policy decisions informed by the best available science advice from the nation's top experts. Yet, the process for this sham report, conducted in secret by five known climate deniers, lacked any sort of rigor and it shows in the shoddy final product rife with errors," Gretchen Goldman, president and CEO at the nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists, said in a statement.

The DOE study, published on July 29, was authored by five scientists whom Energy Secretary Chris Wright said he selected "for their rigor, honesty, and willingness to elevate the debate." The study concluded that cost estimates for climate change were overstated and disputed scientific consensus on how much warming would be caused by an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin used the results of the study to partially justify the agency's proposed repeal of the endangerment finding, a 2009 determination that provides much of the legal and scientific justification for the EPA's ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

The suit, which was filed on Aug. 12 in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts, said that the "climate working group" was illegally created in secret with the sole intention of providing justification to reverse the endangerment finding.

"Federal law does not permit agencies to create or rely on such secret, unaccountable groups when engaged in policymaking," the environmental groups said. "Defendants did not disclose the Climate Working Group's existence until months after it began working, and not a single meeting or record has been made public other than the group's report."

The DOE and EPA also violated FACA by "stacking" the working group with members who all shared the same point of view, they said.

"The Climate Working Group's members were all chosen for their skepticism of climate science, and the group does not have a single member that agrees with the consensus of the overwhelming majority of the scientific community on the effects of climate change," the complaint said.

The groups asked the court to enjoin the agencies from using the DOE study in any other agency action or proceeding. The suit also requested the court "preliminarily and permanently enjoin the current deadlines for public comments" on the EPA's proposed rule to rescind the endangerment finding.

The suit names Wright, Zeldin, the DOE and the EPA as defendants.

A spokesperson for the DOE was not immediately available for comment. An EPA spokesperson said the agency "does not comment on current or pending litigation."

The case is Environmental Defense Fund v. Wright (1:25-cv-12249).