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Attorney General William Tong filed suit today alongside fourteen other states to challenge the president’s “energy emergency,” calling it "fake" and alleging the intent is to "line the pockets of Big Oil by handing out free passes to pollute our environment."
“This is Donald Trump’s go-to strategy—proclaim a fake emergency to seize power he does not have. Connecticut families desperately need relief from high energy costs, but Trump’s actions here will only make that worse while enriching fossil fuel industry profits and inflicting permanent damage to our land and climate. We are suing today to block this frivolous order, and to stop all illegal permitting pursuant to it,” said Attorney General Tong.
On Inauguration Day, President Donald Trump declared a “national energy emergency” under the National Emergencies Act.
Trump declared the emergency because "the energy and critical minerals (“energy”) identification, leasing, development, production, transportation, refining, and generation capacity of the United States are all far too inadequate to meet our Nation’s needs."
He pointed out that the nation’s inadequate energy supply and infrastructure both "causes and makes worse the high energy prices that devastate Americans" and places the blame on "harmful and shortsighted policies of the previous administration."
Trump further described how the "active threat to the American people from high energy prices is exacerbated by our Nation’s diminished capacity to insulate itself from hostile foreign actors" who have "targeted our domestic energy infrastructure, weaponized our reliance on foreign energy, and abused their ability to cause dramatic swings within international commodity markets".
"These numerous problems are most pronounced in our Nation’s Northeast and West Coast, where dangerous State and local policies jeopardize our Nation’s core national defense and security needs, and devastate the prosperity of not only local residents but the entire United States population," says Trump's declaration.
This Presidential action encourages agencies to fully utilize emergency powers available to "facilitate the identification, leasing, siting, production, transportation, refining, and generation of domestic energy resources, including, but not limited to, on Federal lands."
Tong and the coalition of attorneys general assert that "federal agencies are bypassing or shortening critical reviews under the Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, and the Historic National Preservation Act for energy projects. These laws play a critical role protecting the environment and human health and protecting our heritage and places sacred to tribes."
"U.S. energy production is at an all-time high. The country is producing so much oil and natural gas that energy companies do not plan to increase output in response to the president’s order. The president is simultaneously seeking to increase exports which, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, will increase prices for American consumers," said Tong's statement.
The statement then goes on to complain about Trump disagreeing with "policies to address climate change in Connecticut and elsewhere."
"He is illegally using emergency authorities to keep the nation reliant on energy sources like coal, oil, and gas. The order excludes wind, solar, and batteries — among the cheapest and cleanest modern energy sources that exist today. The end goal is clear: eliminate the competition so his oil and gas donors can keep gouging Connecticut people and polluting the state," the statement continues. "Now agencies are acting under emergency procedures only due to the president’s order."
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, names as defendants President Donald Trump, as well as the head of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. Both agencies have taken illegal action to implement the president’s directive.
The attorneys general ask the court to declare the president’s directive, and the agencies’ implementation of it, illegal and stop them from issuing emergency permits under the executive order.
The attorneys general also argue that Trump’s “energy emergency” EO is directly at odds with his executive order on wind, issued the same day, which Connecticut also challenged.
Joining Attorney General Tong filing this lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.
A copy of the complaint is available here.
Assistant Attorney General Jill Lacedonia and Deputy Associate Attorney General Matthew Levine, Chief of the Environment Section are assisting the Attorney General in this matter.
