Williams Cedar Partner Says Proposed Policy Reversals Put Millions at Risk from Pollution
HADDONFIELD, N.J., July 23, 2025 — A prominent environmental attorney is sounding the alarm over a newly proposed EPA rollback that could sharply weaken America’s ability to fight climate change — and seriously endanger public health.
Gerald Williams, partner at the environmental law firm Williams Cedar LLC, says the Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to rescind a long-standing scientific finding — known as the “endangerment finding” — would undermine decades of progress in curbing greenhouse gas emissions and open the door to increased air, water, and land pollution.
“This isn’t just a legal change — it’s a health crisis in the making,” said Williams. “If the EPA removes the scientific foundation that says carbon dioxide and methane endanger human health, it strips away the government’s power to regulate them. That means more pollution, more illness, and fewer tools to fight the climate emergency.”
The EPA’s July 22 proposal seeks to overturn the 2009 endangerment finding, which underpins both the Clean Air Act’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases and more recent Biden-era vehicle emission standards designed to accelerate electric vehicle adoption.
Williams warns that this reversal could block future administrations from implementing any meaningful climate policy — even as scientists report rising health risks tied to heatwaves, wildfires, and degraded air quality.
“This proposal isn’t just dangerous — it’s reckless,” Williams added. “It will tie the hands of future leaders and endanger the health of millions of Americans, particularly the most vulnerable.”
A veteran litigator, Williams has decades of experience in environmental toxic torts and civil rights cases. He helped secure a groundbreaking victory in Ambrogi v. Gould, the first case to establish medical monitoring under Pennsylvania’s Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act.