California and a coalition of 21 other states have sued the Trump administration over the decision to rescind restrictions on coal-burning power plants. These restrictions played a crucial part in Obama’s climate change policy.
State Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra said Trump’s effort to dismantle 2015’s Clean Power Plan undercuts efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and allows the Environmental Protection Agency to abandon its legal responsibility to crack down on air pollution.“The EPA and the Trump administration are backsliding once again, bending over backwards for special interests at the expense of the public’s interest,” Becerra told reporters during a morning press conference in Sacramento. “California doesn’t have time for flimsy fake substitutes to clean power. Our health, our economy, our future as the engine of prosperity and innovation in America are at stake.”The federal lawsuit was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington by the 22-state coalition, with New York taking the lead, as well as major cities that included Los Angeles, New York and Chicago.
This lawsuit represents the latest effort of green justice warriors to cling to Obama’s legacy bitterly.
In July, California circumvented the Trump administration’s efforts to relax tailpipe pollution regulations by reaching a deal with four major automakers to gradually increase fuel efficiency standards.California has filed more than two dozen challenges to Trump administration policies proposed by the EPA, U.S. Department of the Interior and other federal agencies responsible for setting energy and fuel efficiency standards. The state has prevailed in at least 15 of those lawsuits, and Becerra said he expects to be victorious again challenging Trump’s attempt to roll back restrictions on coal-burning power plants.“We have confidence not just in the law but that the science and facts are with us on this case,” Becerra said.
However, this isn’t the only lawsuit targeting President Trump’s policies that is in the hopper. San Francisco and Santa Clara counties have just filed a suit Tuesday the new “public charge” rules to restrict legal immigration.
The lawsuit is the first after the Department of Homeland Security’s announcement Monday that it would deny green cards to migrants who use Medicaid, food stamps, housing vouchers or other forms of public assistance.In their filing, the two counties argued that the rules will worsen the health and well-being of their residents, increase public health risks and financially harm the counties. The rules, they argued, would result in a “chilling effect” in which migrants forgo or disenroll from federal public assistance programs to reduce the risk of green card denial. This would mean that the cost of services would shift from federal to state governments.
And the new proposal for the Endangered Species Act roll-backs was merely hours old before California’s Attorney General was threatening another lawsuit.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has threatened to sue the federal government over the changes, while California lawmakers are reaffirming support of legislation to counter the move, at least in the Golden State. Known as the Trump Insurance Law, SB1, if passed, would empower local and state governments in California to maintain federal environmental laws in place before President Trump moved into the White House.
The suite of lawsuits demonstrates that California politicos focus on #Resistance as serious state issues persist.
As a Californian, I only wish our state’s representatives spent as much time, energy, and resources protecting its citizens as they do preserving Obama’s legacy.
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