WASHINGTON (AP) — Two dozen states, including Maine, along with more than a dozen cities and counties, sued the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday, challenging the Trump administration’s repeal of a scientific finding that had been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change.

A rule finalized by the EPA last month revoked the 2009 endangerment finding that determined carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare. The Obama-era finding had been the legal underpinning of nearly all climate regulations under the Clean Air Act for motor vehicles, power plants and other pollution sources that are heating the planet.

The repeal eliminates all greenhouse gas emissions standards for cars and trucks and could unleash a broader undoing of climate regulations on stationary sources such as power plants and oil and gas facilities.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, is the second major challenge to the endangerment repeal, following a suit filed last month by public health and environmental groups.

The new lawsuit asserts that EPA’s rescission of the endangerment finding abandons a core responsibility to the American people.

“Instead of helping Americans face our new reality, the Trump administration has chosen denial, repealing critical protections that are foundational to the federal government’s response to climate change,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James, who led the suit along with attorneys general of Massachusetts, California and Connecticut.

In all, 24 states, 10 cities and five counties joined the lawsuit. All are led by Democrats.

“Climate change is real, and it’s already affecting our residents and our economy,” said Massachusetts Attorney General Joy Campbell. “When the federal government abandons the law and the science, everyday people suffer the consequences.”

Massachusetts “has long led the way in protecting our communities from the dangers of greenhouse gas emissions and we are proud to stand up once again to lead this fight for our future,” she said.

The U.S. Supreme Court, in a landmark 2007 case, ruled that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are “air pollutants” under the Clean Air Act. Since the high court’s decision, in a case known as Massachusetts v. EPA, courts have uniformly rejected legal challenges to the endangerment finding, including a 2023 decision by the D.C. appeals court.

EPA spokeswoman Brigit Hirsch said the latest lawsuit was “not about the law or the merits of any argument.” Instead, the plaintiffs “are clearly motivated by politics,” she said.

The EPA “carefully considered and reevaluated the legal foundation” of the 2009 finding in light of recent court decisions, including a 2022 Supreme Court ruling that limited how the clean air law can be used to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, Hirsch said.

In addition to New York, Massachusetts, California, and Connecticut, the case was joined by attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin, as well as the District of Columbia and U.S. Virgin Islands.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection also joined the case, along with the cities of Albuquerque, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Denver, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco, and five counties in California, Colorado, Texas and Washington state.

The dispute is likely to end up back before the Supreme Court, which is now far more conservative than it was in 2007.

Maine is poised to stop collecting income tax on money stolen from victims of certain types of scams under legislation that moved forward Thursday with strong bipartisan support.

LD 714 would align state law with federal income tax changes adopted last year by the Internal Revenue Service, which now allows some victims to claim a theft deduction.

The Legislature’s taxation committee voted 12-0 to send the bill to the House and Senate with an “ought to pass” recommendation. If it becomes law, it would apply to scams that began after Jan. 1, 2023.

To qualify for a theft deduction, the IRS stipulates that the loss must result from criminal conduct classified as theft under state law; the taxpayer must have no reasonable expectation of recovering the stolen funds; and the loss must arise from the theft of funds while invested.

The deduction doesn’t apply to losses from romance scams, false kidnappings and other frauds where victims transfer funds to scammers for non-investment purposes, Steven Langlin, a legislative analyst, told the taxation committee.

Committee member Rep. Gary Friedmann, D-Bar Harbor, noted that older Mainers are especially vulnerable as residents of the oldest state, with a median age of 44.8, according to the U.S. Census.

“I’m moved that we do all we can to protect our seniors,” Friedmann said.

Rep. Thomas Lavigne, R-Berwick, also a committee member, described a recent online scam he experienced. “It was terrible and it can happen to anybody,” he said.

The legislation was drafted after the Portland Press Herald reported on a China couple who lost $1.3 million in a government impersonation scam.

From October 2023 to April 2024, Larry and Barbara Cook drained their retirement accounts and transferred the money as bitcoin and gold bullion to scammers posing as Federal Trade Commission investigators. The scammers convinced the couple that it was the only way to protect their savings, which became taxable income once they cashed out their retirement accounts.

“Unlike the IRS, the current Maine tax law does not allow deduction for fraud from gross income,” Larry Cook, 82, said in written testimony to the tax committee. “The fraud and its ongoing consequences have impacted us financially, emotionally and even physically.”

Committee member Rep. Kristina Smith, R-Palermo, represents the Cooks and submitted a copy of the Press Herald article with her written testimony.

“This bill protects the most vulnerable among us — seniors with substantial but finite savings, people with limited technological familiarity, and anyone who falls prey to highly organized criminal schemes,” Smith said.

Scams are on the rise. The number of complaints about government impersonation scams in particular increased 50% in recent years, from 11,554 incidents worth $240.6 million in 2022 to 17,367 incidents worth $405.6 million in 2024, according to the latest FBI data.

Among people age 60 and up, scams involving cryptocurrency more than tripled in the same period, from 9,991 incidents worth $1 billion to 33,369 incidents worth $2.8 billion.

ORONO, Maine (WGME) – Police say they have recovered the body of a missing former University of Maine student.

Police say 19-year-old Chance Lauer was last seen on January 19 at the Orchard Trail Apartments in Orono, where he lived.

Orono police say Lauer’s body was found Tuesday in a retention pond near the complex where he lived.

Police don’t consider Lauer’s death to be suspicious.

No other information has been released at this time.