Fifteen Democratic state attorneys general filed a lawsuit Friday seeking to nullify an order President Trump issued declaring a national energy emergency.
Trump’s action states it is designed to ramp up domestic energy production, enhance national security and lower energy costs. Democrats say its primary purpose is to boost fossil fuel development and get around environmental protections.
“The president’s attempt to bypass important environmental protections is illegal and would cause immense harm to Washingtonians,” Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said in a statement. “This won’t lower prices, increase our energy supply, or make our country safer.”
Filed in the Western District of Washington, the suit also names as defendants the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, which have both issued expedited energy permits in accordance with the order.
The attorneys general are asking the court to declare the president’s order and the agencies’ implementation illegal and stop them from issuing emergency permits under the executive order.
The Democrats also maintain that the order was issued for partisan purposes rather than an actual energy emergency.
“The invocation of the country’s emergency authorities is reserved for actual emergencies — not changes in Presidential policy or because the President feels like it,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. “These procedures misuse authorities meant for disaster response and bypass important health and environmental protections for the benefit of the fossil fuel industry.
The attorneys general contend that until now, declarations under the National Emergencies Act have been limited to bona fide emergencies, including the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
They also highlight an apparent contradiction with the fact that the emergency declaration comes at a time when energy production is at an all-time high, beginning under former President Joe Biden and continuing under Trump. 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 attorneys general claim.
The other states joining the lawsuit are Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.
The lawsuit is the 20th filed by Democratic attorneys general against the Trump administration. It comes after one seeking to restart a federal grant program to build electric vehicle charging stations around the country.