California plans to use climate change report against Trump

WASHINGTON — The ominous climate change report the Trump administration released on Thanksgiving weekend could provide legal ammunition for states such as California, which are suing or threatening to sue the federal government over weakened regulations on fossil-fuel industries, automobiles and other contributors to a warming climate.

“Absolutely, we will use every bit of that report,” California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said Wednesday in Washington, where he appeared with acting Environmental Protection Agency administrator Andrew Wheeler.

In line with the administration’s position, Wheeler downplayed the report, known as the Fourth National Climate Assessment, saying it was launched during the Obama administration, assembled by career federal employees and did not reflect Trump’s economic priorities.

California has filed more than 20 environmental lawsuits against the Trump administration the last two years, joining other states in challenging rollbacks on methane emissions, hydraulic fracking and fuel efficiency standards for automobiles. More lawsuits are expected as the EPA finalizes rules to weaken the Clean Power Plan — an Obama-era rule aimed at reducing pollution from coal plants — and revoke California’s authority to set its own vehicle tailpipe standards.

Some of this litigation hinges on whether the EPA must regulate greenhouse gas emissions and protect public safety under the Clean Air Act. Following a landmark Supreme Court decision, the EPA in 2009 issued what is known as the “Endangerment Finding,” which requires the agency to take action to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and other heat-trapping gases. Trump’s EPA has not challenged that finding, meaning that it is obligated to comply.

David Hayes, a deputy Interior secretary during the Obama and Clinton administrations, said the recent climate assessment details threats to public safety posed by climate change, which California and other states are sure to cite as they make their arguments in court.

“This provides more ammunition for lawsuits that are out there asking the EPA to take action,” said Hayes, who now heads the State Energy and Environmental Impact Center, which assists attorneys generals on environmental matters.

Jeff Holmstead, a Washington-based lawyer and assistant EPA administrator during the George W. Bush administration, said that litigants will no doubt cite the federal report.

But some of the ongoing litigation and policymaking, he said, involves questions of whether the Obama administration exceeded its authority in setting regulations, such as the Clean Power Plan. The Trump administration is now modifying rules on those grounds, he said.

“This report won’t be relevant in those situations,” said Holmstead, a partner with the Bracewell law firm in Washington, D.C.

Becerra and the EPA’s Wheeler appeared separately Wednesday at an energy event organized by The Washington Post.

Both were asked about the federal climate assessment, which assembled a range of studies to forecast impacts of climate on different parts of the country, and under different scenarios of expected warming. Some of the most dire forecasts involved California and the Southwest, which could experience a tripling of large fires, heat wave fatalities and water shortages according to the report.

Wheeler said he believed that “man has an impact on climate,” as does carbon dioxide. He said that the president’s main concern was that media, citing the report, projected that climate change could significantly damage the nation’s economy.