The End of Citizen Suits for Environmental Protection?

Morath Illuminates the Administration’s Move to Block Public Enforcement

Can the executive branch block citizens from enforcing environmental statutes, even when such a right is written into the law itself? That’s what the Department of Justice is arguing in its motion for dismissal of the case in NAACP v. xAI.

In a recent article for The Conversation, Sabin Center Board Member and Wake Law Professor Sarah Morath weighed in on the history and implications of this filing, in which the Trump administration argues that its decision that enforcing environmental regulation is against the public interest should override the statutorily permitted citizen suit. According to Morath, “citizen suits have been an effective part of cleaning up the environment in the U.S.” for over five decades. They’ve formed the basis of over 2,000 suits including Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act claims, many of which have produced significant settlements. In the current case, the NAACP has brought suit against xAI for building and operating 27 natural gas-fired turbines to power their data centers without the required Clean Air Act permits. The Justice Department claims that the suit threatens artificial intelligence innovation and national security – a move that Morath sees as a part of a broader effort to consolidate power in the executive branch. A hearing will be held in the matter later this month.

Read on for more of Morath’s insights into the history and importance of these citizen suits.

Cover photo: Imagery captured in late January by Floodlight and analyzed by multiple experts shows 15 of the 27 unpermitted turbines operating at xAI’s gas plant in Southaven, Mississippi (Evan Simon/Floodlight).