Trump launches 'decisive counterstrike' on Dem states that 'weaponized' courts against coal: experts
'The climate litigation racket is about control, not conservation — and President Trump just called their bluff,' says American Energy Institute CEO Jason Isaac
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Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte discusses President Donald Trump signing an executive order to revitalize the coal industry on 'The Bottom Line.'
President Donald Trump's recent executive order blitz to "unleash" American energy by cutting red tape surrounding the coal industry also launched a "counterstrike" on left-wing legal efforts to derail energy growth within the U.S., experts told Fox Digital.
"Democrats have long used and abused federal power to impose leftist policies on the states and the American people. It is refreshing to see a president use the federal power to promote economic freedom and the strength of the American economy, instead," said James Taylor, president of The Heartland Institute, a free-market think tank critical of restrictive climate policies.
Trump signed four executive orders (EOs) on Tuesday, while surrounded by U.S. coal miners, that aim to revitalize the coal industry, including an EO that directs the Department of Justice to identify and end "unconstitutional" state policies targeting the coal industry.
"I'm instructing the Department of Justice to identify and fight every single unconstitutional state or local regulation that's putting our coal miners out of business. And we are withdrawing all of those objections from our government today. It's all being withdrawn," Trump said on Tuesday during the signing event.
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President Donald Trump speaks alongside coal and energy workers during an executive order signing ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images / Getty Images)
The executive order, Protecting American Energy from State Overreach, outlined that Attorney General Pam Bondi is charged, alongside "appropriate executive departments and agencies," with identifying state laws and policies that are "burdening the identification, development, siting, production, or use of domestic energy resources" and ending them.
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"States have also sued energy companies for supposed ‘climate change’ harm under nuisance or other tort regimes that could result in crippling damages," Trump's April 8 EO reads.
Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks during a news conference at the Department of Justice Building in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 12. Bondi held the news conference to announce charges against the state of New York for failure to enforce federal immigrat (Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images)
"These State laws and policies weaken our national security and devastate Americans by driving up energy costs for families coast-to-coast, despite some of these families not living or voting in States with these crippling policies," the EO continues. "These laws and policies also undermine Federalism by projecting the regulatory preferences of a few States into all State."
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Emissions spew from a large stack at the coal-fired Brandon Shores Power Plant in Baltimore on March 9, 2018. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images / Getty Images)
The CEO of the American Energy Institute, a conservative think tank that works to promote a thriving American energy sector, told Fox Digital that Trump launched a "counterstrike" at liberal jurisdictions that have "weaponized the courts" to promote strict environmental policies that voters and Congress did not approve.
"For too long, Democrat-run cities and states have weaponized the courts to push a radical agenda that voters never approved, and Congress never passed. This executive order is a decisive counterstrike," American Energy Institute CEO Jason Isaac said.
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"It empowers the Department of Justice to put an end to these politically motivated lawsuits that threaten American jobs, energy security, and the rule of law. The climate litigation racket is about control, not conservation — and President Trump just called their bluff," he added.
The order adds that the attorney general should prioritize identifying and ending laws and policies specifically surrounding "'climate change' or involving ‘environmental, social, and governance’ initiatives, ‘environmental justice,’ carbon or ‘greenhouse gas’ emissions, and funds to collect carbon penalties or carbon taxes."
"The Attorney General shall expeditiously take all appropriate action to stop the enforcement of State laws and continuation of civil actions identified in subsection (a) of this section that the Attorney General determines to be illegal," the EO continues.
President Donald Trump answers a reporter's question from the White House. (Getty Images / Getty Images)
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The four EOs on Tuesday included Trump directing the National Energy Dominance Council to designate coal as a "mineral," end a current pause to coal leasing on federal lands, promote coal and coal technology exports, and encourage the use of coal to power artificial intelligence initiatives. The Department of the Interior, Department of Energy and EPA subsequently announced a handful of steps the respective agencies will take to promote and apply the executive orders.