By AFP - Agence France Presse
Groups launch first green lawsuits against new Trump administration
Green groups on Wednesday launched the first environmental challenges against the new Trump administration, targeting the president's plans to expand offshore drilling.
The first lawsuit challenges an executive order revoking former Vice President Joe Biden's withdrawal of vulnerable ocean areas from future oil and gas leases.
The second lawsuit seeks to reinstate a federal court ruling that previously invalidated efforts by Donald Trump's first administration to overturn offshore protections established by former President Barack Obama.
Trump decided to open up much of the Arctic Ocean to drilling, revoking his first-term order.
At the end of his term, Biden protected areas in the Eastern Gulf, as well as the Atlantic, Pacific, and Alaskan coasts, invoking the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.
However environmental groups argue that the law does not grant the president the authority to revoke withdrawals made by previous presidents. They cite a federal court ruling from Trump's first term when he tried to undo Obama-era protections.
“We defeated Trump the first time he tried to roll back protections and sacrifice more of our waters to the oil industry. We're taking this abuse of the law to court again,” said Steve Mashuda, Earthjustice's managing attorney for oceans.
“Trump is illegally trying to strip away vital protections for coastal communities that depend on clean, healthy oceans for safe living conditions, thriving economies, and stable ecosystems.”
Oceana campaign director Joseph Gordon added: “President Trump's executive order would roll back millions of acres of ocean protection, putting at risk our coastal economies and the people who depend on healthy, thriving oceans.”
On his first day in office, Trump announced the US withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement for the second time, declared a “national energy emergency” to expand drilling, and signed executive orders to slow the transition to electric vehicles and halt offshore wind farm projects.
ia/bjt
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