President Donald Trump has directed the Department of Justice to stop enforcing state laws that would impose billions of fines on energy companies for destabilizing the climate.
In April 8 executive order, Trump ordered the U.S. Attorney General to stop enforcing state climate laws and lawsuits by state attorneys general seeking to hold energy companies accountable for greenhouse gas emissions. The action follows a White House meeting last month where oil and gas executives raised concerns about these laws, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
Trump’s order mentions efforts by New York and Vermont to seek compensation from energy companies for climate pollution.
It also targets California’s cap-and-trade legislation, enacted in 2013, which the state estimates has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 110 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent – roughly equal to the amount produced by 25.6million cars and trucks driven for a year.