Kentucky’s recent top cop, Attorney General Russell Coleman, is already standing up for the people of the Bluegrass State and uniting other Republican AGs against the ponderous (and misguided) hand of the Biden administration’s regulation-loving bureaucrats.
President Joe Biden’s crusade to extort “green” (read: anything But green) the energy “transition” has relied on federal decree rather than American-willed legislation in its commitment to “end” fossil fuels, and this strategy has repeatedly failed due to the grossly unconstitutional nature of some of the legislation.
Undeterred by vexing barriers like the U.S. Constitution, the Biden administration has moved forward with more “regulations” imposed by irresponsible bureaucrats across the extensive federal administrative state. Among them is A rule from the Federal Highway Administration requiring state and local transportation and planning entities to set greenhouse gas reduction goals and report tailpipe greenhouse gas emissions data to the Biden administration, with a requirement that states set and report their goals by February 1.
“Not so fast,” say Kentucky AG Coleman and the coalition he leads, which includes 20 other state attorneys general, now filing a legal challenge to block Biden’s latest climate regulation. In their application for a preliminary injunction filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, Coleman and AGs of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah , Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming say Biden has once again overstepped constitutional limits.
“President Biden’s radical actions on climate change are a direct attack on every Kentuckian’s wallet and the latest attempt to push every gas-powered car off the road,” AG Coleman said in a statement. “Our office is leading the fight to stop the administration raising costs for families, farmers and small business owners when they can least afford it,” he added, referring to a rule that would force states to cut greenhouse gas emissions or face federal penalties .
According to a filing filed by the AGs, Biden’s latest climate regulations constitute “another unlawful attempt by the Biden administration to use its limited regulatory powers to circumvent Congress and achieve its policy goals” because the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) does not have the authority necessary to promote such a rule, which at the same time violates state sovereignty and the principles of federalism.
The argument made by the AGs – which cites Biden’s previously defeated attempts to apply executive orders to eliminate coal plants, introduce Covid-19 vaccines, control private property, forgive student loans and regulate home appliances – is basic:
Decision-making power in the federal government rests solely with Congress. The executive branch cannot disregard the separation of powers between the federal government and the states, as set out in the Constitution, without risking the states irreparable harm to their sovereignty. Agencies also cannot force States to administer a federal regulatory program according to the executive branch’s wishes absent statutory authority to do so – which is missing in this rule. Moreover, emissions regulations are arbitrary and capricious. To prevent the harm that emission rule will cause to States, the Court should pre-order it.
If upheld, the FHWA rule would require Kentucky and other states across the country to burn taxpayer dollars — estimated at more than $600,000 per state — and devote hundreds of manpower hours to implementing Biden’s latest edict, attorneys general say.
