New York politicians blasted President Donald Trump’s latest executive order that aims to roll back the Environmental Protection Agency’s limits on power plants burning coal, and vowed to fight it in court.
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Tuesday that he would lead a coalition of officials from 23 states, cities and counties to oppose the order, which would effectively eliminate the Clean Power Plan.
“We regret the fact that the president is trying to dial back history, but it’s not going to happen,” Schneiderman said on a conference call with reporters, adding: “This is not something where the Trump administration is writing on a blank canvas. There are requirements that the EPA regulate greenhouse [gasses] and they do it in a meaningful way.”
At the EPA in Washington Tuesday, Trump said, “I am taking historic steps to lift restrictions on American energy, to reverse government intrusion and to cancel job-killing regulations.”
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a joint statement with California Gov. Jerry Brown that the states will continue to work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with or without the federal government.
Schneiderman, however, said that pollution doesn’t stop at the state line.
“But pollution flows across borders,” he said. “There are some aspects of this that really require national, if not global solutions.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio said issues of climate change “fall disproportionately” on vulnerable communities.
“President Trump’s order to begin rolling back the progress we have made on climate change represents an existential threat to New York City,” de Blasio said in a statement. “Faced with presidential orders that reject sound science and common sense, I am proud to join mayors across the country in offering bold solutions capable of leaving our children a healthy planet.” With Reuters
