The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) is representing plaintiffs suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), alleging it has failed to implement federal air quality standards adopted during the Biden administration.
This represents the SELC’s second case this week in which the law center is representing plaintiffs in a lawsuit. The SELC is also representing the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in its lawsuit against xAI in Mississippi.
The lawsuit against the Trump administration’s EPA alleges that the government has failed to implement stricter air pollution standards that went into effect in May 2024. Authorized to issue and strengthen standards under the Clean Air Act, the EPA decided two years ago to tighten requirements on annual fine particulate matter pollution, raising the annual limit from 12 micrograms per cubic meter, set under former President Barack Obama, to 9.
According to a press release published on Tuesday, a total of 17 organizations are involved in the litigation, including Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, American Lung Association, American Public Health Association, American Thoracic Society, Center for Biological Diversity, Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future, Clean Air Council, CleanAIRE NC, Conservation Law Foundation, Environmental Defense Fund, Georgia Interfaith Power & Light, Michigan Environmental Council, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Northeast Ohio Community Resilience Centre, Rio Grande International Study Center, Savannah Riverkeeper, and Sierra Club.
According to the NRDC press release, the SELC, Clean Air Task Force, and Earthjustice represent “many of these organizations” behind the lawsuit.
Their litigation notably followed the EPA’s March 2025 announcement under the Trump administration that it was “reevaluating the appropriateness” of the 2024 decision.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement at the time, “Under President Trump, we will ensure air quality standards for particulate matter are protective of human health and the environment while we unleash the Golden Age of American prosperity.”
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the lawsuit against the EPA is currently assigned to a magistrate judge.
In the NAACP’s lawsuit, xAI’s operations in Southaven, Mississippi, a Memphis suburb where it constructed its Colossus 2 data center, are at issue, and the lawsuit alleges violations of the Clean Air Act, including claims that xAI illegally operated temporary natural gas turbines.
The NAACP, with SELC as its counsel, previously sent notice to xAI that it intended to sue over the Colossus 1 data center in Memphis last year, but a lawsuit was never filed. The company has since received permission to operate from authorities in Shelby County, Tennessee, and Mississippi.
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Tom Pappert is a 2025 recipient of the Dao Prize and the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star. He also reports for the Star News Network. Follow Tom on X. Email tips to [email protected].
These clowns continue to push leftwing trash.