Donald Trump issues order halting enforcement of state laws passed to combat climate change
Washington, D.C.: On Tuesday, April 8, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order intended to prevent state legislation enacted to address climate change and restrict the use of fossil fuels from being enforced.
The action is the most recent in a series of initiatives by Trump’s administration to increase domestic energy production and oppose regulations to reduce carbon emissions that are mostly spearheaded by Democrats. It happened only hours after Republican President Donald Trump ordered an increase in coal output.
The directive instructed the US attorney general to find state legislation that deals with carbon emissions, environmental justice, climate change, and ESG programmes and to take steps to prevent them.
“Many States have enacted, or are in the process of enacting, burdensome and ideologically motivated ‘climate change’ or energy policies that threaten American energy dominance and our economic and national security,” the order said.
Trump explicitly mentioned California’s cap-and-trade scheme, lawsuits by states that have attempted to hold energy firms responsible for their involvement in global warming, and laws in New York and Vermont that penalise fossil fuel companies for their participation in climate change.
Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico and Kathy Hochul of New York, both Democratic governors who co-chair the US Climate Alliance, said that the presidential order would not dissuade states and that states could not be deprived of their power.
In a joint statement, they said, “We will continue to advance solutions to the climate crisis that protect Americans’ fundamental right to clean air and water, generate good-paying jobs, expand the clean energy economy, and make our future safer and healthier.”
A coalition of 24 governors committed to climate action is called the Alliance.
The move was hailed by the oil and gas trade organisation, the American Petroleum Institute.
“We welcome President Trump’s action to hold states like New York and California accountable for pursuing unconstitutional efforts that illegally penalise US oil and natural gas producers for delivering the energy American consumers rely on every day,” Ryan Meyers, API Senior Vice President, said in a press release.
