McCuskey
CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General J.B. McCuskey is co-leading a coalition of 16 attorneys general to help the Trump administration bolster our nation’s energy industry and protect it from what the group calls “dangerous climate lawfare.”
McCuskey, along with Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers, wrote a letter to United States Attorney General Pamela Bondi supporting the Administration’s actions and offering ways to further protect our energy sector.
“I am glad to be joined by Attorney General Hilgers in supporting the Trump administration’s push to deregulate and protect our nation’s vital energy industry,” McCuskey said. “The energy industry keeps the lights on and employs tens of thousands of West Virginians, yet the Biden Administration did everything in their power to shut down traditional energy producers.
“West Virginians recognize the value that traditional energy sources like coal and natural gas, along with emerging technologies, hold to continued American prosperity, and that this industry should be supported, not undermined.”
The coalition says the Biden administration, as well as several state and local governments and nonprofit groups, “have done everything in their power to declare war on traditional American energy suppliers.” It also says the Trump administration has countered that attack through multiple executive orders and Department of Justice actions, including lawsuits against burdensome state regulations and the creation of an anti-competitive energy regulations task force.
In addition to those actions, the coalition suggests multiple additional steps to protect our vital energy sector.
Those suggestions include: preempting state laws that attempt to punish companies for climate change or out-of-state emissions; withholding funding from states that implement such regulations; creating a pathway to federal courts for cases litigating these laws; shielding energy producers from liability under these laws; urging the Supreme Court to grant certiorari for all original jurisdiction cases and to take more energy cases; streamlining energy facility permitting; extending grants to more types of energy producers; and continuing to deregulate domestic energy production.
Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Texas, South Carolina, South Dakota and Wyoming are members of the coalition, led by West Virginia and Nebraska.
