Democratic state attorneys general sue to block Trump’s energy emergency

By Tom Hals

(Reuters) -Fifteen state attorneys general sued U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday to try to block his national energy emergency, which the states said is an unlawful effort to disregard regulations and fast-track permitting for oil and gas development.

The Democratic state attorneys general, including those from California, Washington and New York, said using emergency powers to bypass normal permitting processes for hundreds of proposed projects will cause irreparable harm to natural and historic resources, undermining drinking water and wildlife habitat.

The lawsuit, filed in Seattle federal court, seeks a court order that the January 20 executive order declaring a national emergency was unlawful and that efforts to implement the order by Army Corps of Engineers and Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) violated administrative law.

It also seeks an injunction barring the Army Corps and ACHP from emergency procedures to issue permits for energy-related projects.

The White House said in a statement that the “President of the United States has the authority to determine what is a national emergency, not state attorneys or the courts. President Trump recognizes that unleashing American energy is crucial to both our economic and national security.”

Trump, a Republican, declared a national energy emergency on his first day in office, claiming the development and production of energy and critical minerals failed to meet the country’s needs. Trump directed the leadership of government agencies to use emergency powers to speed up permitting and remove obstacles to energy production.

U.S. energy production is near record levels, although U.S. power demand is growing for the first time in decades due to the development and adoption of AI. The price of crude oil has fallen around 20% from a year ago and nearly 50% from a recent peak in 2022. [O/R]

Emergency powers allow presidents to tap into special authorities, which is often used in times of crisis. Trump declared a national emergency during his first term to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since he took office in January, Trump has declared illegal immigration a national emergency to speed up construction of detention space and a wall on the southern border with Mexico. His use of a national emergency to impose trade tariffs was nearly terminated by a bipartisan vote in the Senate.

(Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Editing by Aurora Ellis and Marguerita Choy)