President Donald Trump ordered Attorney General Pam Bondy on Tuesday to find a way to block climate laws across the country, crossing Washington once more.
Presidential Order It’ll come as latest Trump example A willingness In impose His Intention Move in the opposite direction in states and cities. In this case, he hopes that the government will cut greenhouse gas emissions, prevent its impact on worsening climate change, and protect particularly vulnerable people from disasters.
Washington’s Climate Commitment Act and Clean Energy Conversion Act meet the description. State officials say they are ready to protect themselves from federal attacks.
“These state laws and policies are essentially inconsistent with my administration’s purpose to unleash American energy,” Trump wrote in his order. “They shouldn’t stand.”
Instead, Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to broaden his dependence on coal, natural gas and other fossil fuels. It was felt all over the world.
In doing so, Trump is pushing decades of climate science aside in the name of energy and economic control. But there seems to be an order I don’t have waterLegally speaking, lawyers say. Others called it flat out illegal.
Presidential Order
Trump’s order specifically directs Bondi to adopt funds to collect “climate change,” or “environmental, social, governance “environmental justice,” carbon or “greenhouse gases” emissions and carbon penalties or taxes, or to target state and local laws that include “climate change” or “environmental, and governance.”
Within 60 days, the Attorney General must submit a report recommending how to kill the law.
It’s a broad command. I’ve mentioned a few examples in particular New York and Vermont Requiring polluters to pay for the state’s climate adaptation and California’s carbon market.
Although Washington has not been specifically mentioned, the 2021 Climate Commitment Act creates a carbon market and requires the state’s top polluters to purchase greenhouse gas allowances they emit. The state is currently attempting to link its program to the common markets of California and Quebec, Canada.
Washington’s Climate Policy
2019 Clean Energy Conversion Method It can also be targeted. The law requires states to release their greenhouse gas grid by 2045.
The president’s potential attack on the CCA is the latest in a series of challenges to policy. Already, the state’s carbon market has survived several serious lawsuits, with 62% of voters lining up policies over efforts to abolish it in November. Mike Falk, a spokesman for state attorney general Nick Brown, said the office is studying Trump’s orders and is ready to defend Washington’s climate law against “any challenge.”
Former state senator JoenguyễnThe current director of Washington’s Commerce Department called Trump’s order a distraction from issues at hand.
“If my job was focused on housing and energy construction, I would be happier,” Nguyễn said. “We don’t respond to unnecessary executive orders that cause great disruption in our community for political interests.”
Without Congressional powers, the federal government cannot override state laws, Nguyễn said.
Others piled up and criticised Trump’s order.
Washington, like other parts of the world, is already suffering from climate change, and its widely supported laws are designed to protect its future. Alyssa MacyCEO of Washington Conservation Action and a citizen of a Confederate tribe in Warm Springs, Oregon.
“This executive order is nothing more than written papers because Washington has the fundamental right to ensure that citizens have clean air and water and to keep polluters accountable,” Macy said.
“Pure threat”
Maggie Coultera senior lawyer at the Center for Environmental Nonprofit Biodiversity, and Trump’s orders have been called unconstitutional in emails. There is no “legal punch” behind the movement, she said.
When states are leading accusations by enacting new “polluter-paying” laws, like New York or Vermont, it’s pure threat,” Coulter said.
Already two times on the US Supreme Court I declined It has considered attempts to kill claims against fossil fuel companies and gave more weight to existing laws, Coulter added.
It seems unlikely that a perfect legal victory for Trump would be, Aseem Prakashthe administration, a political scientist at Washington University, may benefit from linking states and cities with long, expensive legal battles. Like his recent surrender on global tariffs, Trump can still claim victory, he said.
“This is all about politics and attitude,” Prakash said. “That’s not about the outcome.”
Trump can take on federal funding for states and cities with these climate policies, Prakash said. He is already Made Practice from approach.
However, all this can backfire.
Just as states see budgets abused by climate change (Trump too) Thrashing Federal disaster recovery money), the prospect of forcing polluters to pay damages is on the rise, Coulter said.
Now in its third year, Washington’s carbon market is up and running, almost fully participating from major polluters, raising more than $2 billion for climate projects across the state. Over time, the state cuts its emissions and these pollutants are fired each year, thereby reducing their dependence on fossil fuels.
Climate change is also a common problem across the country, Prakash said. Trump’s continued attacks on such general policies are likely to consolidate democratic opposition.
And there’s no shortage of people and politicians willing to appear as climate heroes during the Trump era, Prakash said.
Seattle Times Reporter Isabella Breda contributed to this report.
