Washington and 14 other states are suing the Trump administration over the president’s declaration of an “energy emergency” to speed up permitting for fossil fuel projects.
Issued the day of his inauguration, President Donald Trump’s executive order says inadequate domestic energy development and an unreliable grid warrant the national emergency. The order argues these issues are most pronounced in the Northeast and on the West Coast.
“Dangerous State and local policies jeopardize our Nation’s core national defense and security needs, and devastate the prosperity of not only local residents but the entire United States population,” the order reads.
The order pushes federal agencies, like the Army Corps of Engineers, to use “any lawful emergency authorities” to “facilitate the identification, leasing, siting, production, transportation, refining, and generation of domestic energy resources, including, but not limited to, on Federal lands.”
In practice, this has meant bypassing or quickening reviews under the Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, and the Historic National Preservation Act for planned energy projects and giving the public less time to weigh in, according to the complaint filed Friday in federal court in Seattle. Washington and California lead the 15-state lawsuit.
The lawsuit cites a proposed 100-mile transmission line that would mostly run under the riverbed of the Columbia River in Washington and Oregon. The project could be expedited despite water quality concerns.
Attorney General Nick Brown noted Trump’s order emphasizes oil and natural gas, while excluding renewable energy like wind and solar.
“This is not a serious or lawful effort by the president,” Brown said in a press conference Friday. “It is all about limiting competition and shackling America to dirty fossil fuels forever.”
Last month, the Interior Department announced it would fast-track the approval of coal, gas, oil and mineral projects on public lands in light of Trump’s emergency declaration. Environmental reviews that can typically take a year would be shrunk to two weeks.
Meanwhile, the United States produces more oil and gas than any other country and production is growing, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The energy emergency order is separate from one the president issued last month targeting state climate policies, including potentially Washington’s Climate Commitment Act.
Casey Sixkiller, the director of the state Department of Ecology, said the emergency declaration is “an abuse of authority.”
“Environmental regulations aren’t red tape,” Sixkiller told reporters. “There are guardrails that protect our air, water, land and keep people safe.”
Bill Iyall, chair of the Cowlitz Tribe, said it’s difficult to weigh in on what projects will mean for the tribe’s land when they only have a week or two.
“We are there to advocate for our cultural and natural resources,” Iyall said. “Looking at a project individually, if you did it carefully and planned it carefully, you would be able to minimize those impacts and get a facilitated permit.”
The lawsuit asks a judge to declare the president’s order illegal and stop the issuance of emergency permits. The states are not seeking a temporary restraining order to immediately stop the Trump administration’s actions, as it has in other cases.
The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
This marks 17 lawsuits Brown has filed or joined against the Trump administration since January. Four of those came this week, over freezing permitting for wind energy development and funding for electric vehicle charging infrastructure, as well as dismantling the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
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