Pruitt Blasted for Advising States to Ignore Major Climate Change Regulation

A group of 14 attorneys general and local officials are urging the U.S. Environmental Agency (EPA) to retract a “legally incorrect” letter sent to states in March that said they do not have to comply with the Clean Power Plan.

In a letter sent Thursday to the EPA Office of General Counsel, state officials call the instruction from EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt “unsolicited legal advice.”

The officials wrote that the Clean Power Plan “remains the law of the land” despite a Supreme Court hold on the rule, and it asked that the EPA retract the letters from Pruitt.

“Although the letters do not purport to take final agency action, we are nonetheless concerned that because the EPA Administrator authored the letters, states and power companies may mistakenly believe they can rely on Mr. Pruitt’s views,” the letter scolded.

“The facts are clear: the EPA has a legal obligation to limit carbon pollution from its largest source: fossil-fueled power plants,” New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a statement. “So if President Trump wants to repeal the Clean Power Plan, he must replace it.”

“Scott Pruitt cannot simply wish away the facts by giving governors bad legal advice,” he added.

For a deeper dive:

Reuters, The Hill, Politico Pro

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