A coalition led by New York state insists the Trump administration has a legal obligation to regulate the emission of carbon pollution: ‘The law is clear’

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

A coalition of 17 US states filed a legal challenge on Wednesday against efforts by Donald Trump’s administration to roll back climate change regulations, deepening a political rift over his emerging energy policies.

Led by New York state, the coalition said the administration has a legal duty to regulate emissions of the gases scientists believe cause global climate change.

I am an Arctic researcher. Donald Trump is deleting my citations | Victoria Herrmann Read more

“The law is clear: the EPA must limit carbon pollution from power plants,” the New York attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, said in a statement announcing the challenge.

Trump signed an executive order last week targeting climate change regulations ushered in by President Obama, saying they hinder US energy production and jobs without providing meaningful environmental benefits.

The order’s main target was Obama’s Clean Power Plan, a law that would require states to slash carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, but which was never implemented because it was challenged in court by 26 Republican-led states.

Climate change impacting ‘most’ species on Earth, even down to their genomes Read more

Trump’s order directed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to review the regulation to decide whether to “suspend, rescind, or revise it”. Shortly after, the EPA filed a legal motion asking the US court of appeals for the District of Columbia circuit to delay ongoing court proceedings on the regulation to allow for the review.

The New York-led coalition’s motion on Wednesday asked the court to throw out the EPA’s request to delay court proceedings, saying the delay “would waste the substantial resources already expended in this litigation”.

“This case is ripe for decision now, and nothing that EPA has proposed to do obviates the need for this court’s review,” according to the statement.

The coalition includes attorneys general from California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington – along with the District of Columbia and a number of smaller localities.