Attorney General Dan Rayfield filed suit today alongside 14 other states to challenge the president’s “energy emergency,” declared to line the pockets of Big Oil by handing out free passes to pollute our environment.
On Inauguration Day, President Donald Trump declared a “national energy emergency” under the National Emergencies Act. Congress passed the National Emergencies Act to prevent presidents from declaring national emergencies for frivolous or partisan matters — exactly what the president has done here.
At the direction of the president, 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.
“This order deliberately cuts out clean energy projects and puts our communities in Oregon in the dark about the risks to their health, their homes, and their environment,” said Rayfield. “We’re talking how we prevent polluted drinking water, protect against toxic spills and lessen the impact of natural disasters like flooding.”
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.
The only “emergency” is that the president disagrees with policies to address climate change in Oregon 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 Oregonians and polluting the state.
Until now federal agencies have only used emergency procedures during actual emergencies such as hurricanes and catastrophic oil spills — for example, the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, where lives were at risk. 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.
Joining Attorney General Rayfield in this lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.
