EDF, UCS Ask Court to Enjoin Trump Administration’s Brazenly Unlawful Use of Corrupt “Science” Report

(August 15, 2025) Two leading science and environment groups are asking a federal district court to swiftly block the use of an inaccurate “science” report, developed in violation of federal law, at the center of the Trump administration’s attempt to undo EPA’s Endangerment Finding – the determination, based on mountains of scientific evidence, that climate pollution harms people’s health and well-being. Americans are already suffering from the real-world impacts of climate change including worsening flooding, fires and heat waves and rising insurance costs.

The report at issue was developed in secret by people hand-picked by Trump Secretary of Energy Chris Wright for their distorted views of climate science to provide recommendations on vital government decisions that could make daily life for millions of Americans less safe and less affordable.

Environmental Defense Fund and Union of Concerned Scientists filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in the Federal District Court for the District of Massachusetts last night as part of their lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Energy and Secretary Christopher Wright in his official capacity as head of that department, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Administrator Lee Zeldin in his official capacity as head of that agency, and the Climate Working Group.

The group’s lawsuit challenges the secret formation and hidden activities of the Climate Working Group – the group of climate skeptics convened by Secretary Wright. The Group wrote a report that uses scientific data inaccurately, fundamentally misrepresents many of the findings it cites, and has been denounced by scientists whose research it contorts. Trump EPA Administrator Zeldin is relying extensively on that report to support his proposal to overturn the Endangerment Finding, and to destroy common sense limits on climate pollution for the largest U.S. emitters. 

“Federal law requires advisory committees to act with transparency, public participation, and consideration of balanced perspectives to ensure government decisions are based in integrity and not improperly influenced by secret interests. This report is a brazen violation of federal law that undermines our government’s role in addressing climate change, putting millions of Americans in harm’s way,” said EDF Senior Attorney Erin Murphy. “Secretary Wright unlawfully formed, in secret, a group of climate skeptics to write a report filled with inaccuracies and misrepresentations about climate change — and EPA Administrator Zeldin is trying to use it to undermine pollution limits. That would make life less safe and less affordable for millions of people all across the country."

“Secretary Wright's actions in secretly commissioning a sham science report by known climate contrarians fall well short of what people need and deserve. The scientific community and the public were intentionally kept in the dark even as this report, which could have extremely consequential ramifications for our daily lives, was being written,” said Dr. Pallavi Phartiyal, UCS Vice President of Programs, Policy and Advocacy. “Conversely, decades of rigorous, peer-reviewed scientific analysis confirm what people across the country are experiencing: burning fossil fuels is unequivocally contributing to dangerous, deadly and costly climate change impacts. UCS will not stay silent against this attempt to rewrite legitimate and established science.”

In March of this year, shortly after being confirmed as Secretary of Energy, Wright quietly arranged for five hand-picked authors, most of whom have ties to fossil fuel industries, to write a new report that would “cut against the prevailing narrative that climate change is an existential threat.” That report was held secret from the public until after EPA Administrator Zeldin relied on it extensively to support his proposal to overturn the Endangerment Finding, citing it 22 times. However, in the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which was passed in the wake of Nixon-era scandals, Congress directed that federal government advisory committees cannot form or operate in secret, that materials they create must be available to the public, and that they must have balanced membership. 

Records obtained yesterday by EDF through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) further reveal the questionable actions of Secretary Wright’s secretly convened working group. On February 13, 2025, one member of the group – Dr. Steven Koonin – emailed EPA Administrator Zeldin’s Chief of Staff to “offer technical assistance from me and colleagues in the review of the Endangerment Finding.” The Chief of Staff responded on February 16 and shared that EPA was “moving right along on this topic,” and asked if Dr. Koonin would “be available to jump on a call.”

In their motion, EDF and UCS state that, “This case presents one of the most straightforward — and consequential — violations of the Federal Advisory Committee Act … since the law was enacted fifty-three years ago. … [We] file this motion to bring an immediate end to the lawless operation of and reliance on the [Climate Working Group] before it is too late to repair the enormous harm being caused.” (Motion, page 1)

The motion asks the court to preliminarily enjoin the unlawful actions in establishing, operating, and utilizing the “Climate Working Group,” to order the Group to disclose all records as required by law, to enjoin operation by the Group unless and until they comply with federal law, and to stop the Trump administration from using the Group’s unlawfully produced report.

Read more about EDF and UCS’s lawsuit here.