Republican AGs Are Teaming Up With The Corporations Poisoning Their States To Gut The Clean Air Act. Why?

This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis.

Introduction

More than 8 million people die from air pollution and fine particulate matter globally every year, according to the BMJ, a peer-reviewed medical journal. Of that number, over 5.13 million people die from ambient air pollution resulting from fossil fuels use. Experts say that deaths from air pollution are also on the rise, and are currently expected to double by 2050. In the U.S. alone, “350,000 may die annually from pollution produced by the burning of fossil fuels.” According to the American Lung Association (ALA), more than one-fourth of Americans live with “air pollution that can hurt their health and shorten their lives.” Of course, risk and exposure are themselves not borne equally; cities in the western U.S., along with communities of color, disproportionately bear the brunt of air pollution’s public health harms.

The Clean Air Act (CAA)

These numbers would likely be much higher if not for the Clean Air Act (CAA), which has proven both enormously popular and successful in saving hundreds of thousands of lives since its passage in 1970. In 2020 alone, the CAA was projected to prevent 230,000 premature deaths in the US, according to the EPA.

Republican Attorneys General and their industry backers

A slate of CAA cases were argued before the D.C. Circuit last September, all challenging new Biden administration emissions and pollution control standards. Each suit, though differing on individual details, ultimately seeks to challenge long-standing air pollution regulation authorities that undergird the bedrock environmental law. These cases, brought forth by both Republican AGs and polluting industry actors, could severely threaten regulators’ ability to keep our air clean.

Why would AGs pursue such cases? Their hyper-polluting donors, and co-litigants in all, stand to benefit (immensely) from it.

NRDC v. NHTSA

In NRDC v. NHTSA, the issue at hand is National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) attempt to update the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE), a tailpipe emissions standard for future vehicle fleets.

The update came, in part, in response to the Trump administration’s attempted massive rollback of CAFE standards. Despite Biden’s restorative proposals engendering criticism from some environmentalists for not being aggressive enough, Republicans, Big Auto, and others rallied quickly against the rule. And given right-wing judicial dominance, these groups naturally sued to combat the adoption of any climate policy that might actually meaningfully reduce emissions.

State AGs, led by Ken Paxton of Texas — and including Leslie Rutledge, current Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas, Daniel Cameron, former AG of Kentucky, Lynn Fitch of Mississippi, Doug Peterson, former AG of Nebraska, Alan Wilson of South Carolina, Sean Reyes of Utah, Dave Yost of Ohio, Austin Knudsen of Montana, Thomas Rokita of Indiana, and now-Governor Jeff Landry of Louisiana — as well as counsel for the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) sued NHTSA over the rule.

The partnership is baffling given that AFPM members include some of the largest polluters in the country — organizations with ongoing histories of poisoning community members in some of these AGs’ own states.

That’s Not All

Another industry and AG-led attack on clean air emerged in the D.C. Circuit court last year. Texas v. EPA is a suit challenging the EPA’s implementation of its “Revised 2023 and Later Model Year Light-Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards,” which were finalized by the agency in December 2021.

As per the agency’s authority (as designated under CAA) to establish vehicle emissions standards, the rule established a more stringent regulatory regime for vehicular greenhouse gas emissions than those set previously by the Trump Administration. As a result, fifteen states, led by Texas’ Attorney General, Ken Paxton, again joined by industry actors like AFPM, petitioned the D.C. Circuit for review in 2022.

Petitioners are attempting to argue that EPA both surpassed its designated authorities under CAA and does not have clear authority to set the new, more protective, standards. This is a bizarre approach, given that the EPA’s authorities on this matter are clear under the Clean Air Act’s Section 202(a)1.

Who Do AGs Work For?

Given the destruction these firms have caused, the question must be asked: why are AGs willing to deploy public resources — by way of frivolous lawsuits — to aid antagonists of the public interest in their own states?

Follow the paper trail and you’ll find that it’s likely because AFPM (and its member organizations) are reliable donors for AGs and for their governing organization, the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA).

As tracked by the Center for Media and Democracy, AFPM donated $246,720 from 2014-2016, $60,625 in 2017, $220,725 from 2019-2020, $40,000 in 2021 and another $75,150 in 2023. In sum, over the last ten years, AFPM organizationally has funneled at least $643,220 to RAGA overall. Member groups have also funneled money to RAGA, including Valero ($225,000 in 2023), Exxon ($100,000 in 2023), Chevron ($25,000 in 2023), and more.

Such a favorable financial dynamic means that individual AGs benefit hugely from AFPM dollars, even when the people of their states don’t, and — as the numbers make clear — the people of their states don’t.

But beyond simple mutually beneficial financial relationships, these cases highlight just how coordinated right-wing organizations are in attempting to influence policy at the state and national level. For example, Ohio v. EPA has seen significant industry participation in the suit via amici, or friend of the court, briefs. Those briefs reveal even more entrenchment between the offices, interests, and activities of Republican AGs, industry actors, and the dark-money influence peddling organizations which live in between. One specific amici, filed on behalf of the Western States Trucking Association (WSTA), illustrates this point well. WSTA’s brief was filed by Robert Henneke and Theodore Hadzi-Antich, Texas Public Policy Foundation attorneys. TPPF is the Texas branch of the Koch-backed State Policy Network. While it styles itself a network of independent, non-partisan think

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

SDGs Addressed or Connected to the Issues Highlighted in the Article:

1. SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being
2. SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
3. SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
4. SDG 13: Climate Action

Specific Targets Under Those SDGs Based on the Article’s Content:

• Target 3.9: By 2030, substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water, and soil pollution and contamination.
• Target 7.1: By 2030, ensure universal access to affordable, reliable, and modern energy services.
• Target 11.6: By 2030, reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, including by paying special attention to air quality and municipal and other waste management.
• Target 13.2: Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies, and planning.

Indicators Mentioned or Implied in the Article:

• Number of deaths from air pollution and fine particulate matter globally.
• Number of deaths from ambient air pollution resulting from fossil fuels use.
• Expected increase in deaths from air pollution by 2050.
• Number of Americans living with air pollution that can hurt their health and shorten their lives.
• Projections of premature deaths prevented by the Clean Air Act.

Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

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Source: talkingpointsmemo.com

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