Over a dozen largely Democratic states are suing President Trump’s administration over his efforts to fast-track energy projects, saying the administration is bypassing environmental protection laws.
Mr. Trump issued an executive order declaring a “national energy emergency” on the first day of his presidency — part of Mr. Trump’s push to expand U.S. oil and gas production. The order urges oil and gas expansion through federal use of eminent domain and the Defense Production Act, which allows the government to use private land and resources to produce goods deemed to be a national necessity.
Those kinds of steps are supposed to be reserved for actual emergencies, such as projects needed in the aftermath of disasters like hurricanes, flooding or major oil spills, the attorneys general wrote in the lawsuit filed in Washington state Friday.
But now, the 15 plaintiff states allege, agencies like the Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Interior are bypassing required reviews under federal laws like the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act. The states argue an improper permitting process “will result in significant and irreparable harm to state natural and historic resources and the people and biota that rely on those resources for drinking, farming, recreating, and habitat.”
White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers pushed back on the lawsuit in a statement to CBS News.
“The President of the United States has the authority to determine what is a national emergency, not state attorneys or the courts. President Trump recognizes that unleashing American energy is crucial to both our economic and national security,” Rogers wrote.
The attorneys general who are suing the government said they believe reliable and affordable electricity is of critical importance to the nation, but energy production is already at an all-time high.
“The Executive Order is unlawful, and its commands that federal agencies disregard the law and in many cases their own regulations to fast-track extensive categories of activities will result in damage to waters, wetlands, critical habitat, historic and cultural resources, endangered species, and the people and wildlife that rely on these precious resources,” they wrote in the lawsuit.
“The shortcuts inherent in rushing through emergency processes fundamentally undermine the rights of States,” the attorneys general said, noting that the federal Clean Water Act grants states the right to protect water quality within their own borders.
They want a federal judge to declare the executive order unlawful and bar the agencies from pursuing emergency permitting for non-emergency projects.
“Just another unlawful directive from the President, this time acting well beyond the scope of his emergency powers,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, said in a statement announcing the suit.
