“In recent days, millions of people around the world took to the streets to demand that governments act fast to transition away from fossil fuels and toward a clean energy future,” said Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey. “I commend the Center for its excellent work and thank my colleagues for their willingness, time and again, to step into the breach on behalf of our communities and the future generations counting on us.”
The report details the specific laws that give states the authority to regulate energy production, and outlines numerous examples of how lawmakers, regulators and state attorneys general have used that authority to turn state clean energy policy into reality. State attorneys general have facilitated this growth by defending states’ rights under federal law, and assisting in the implementation of in-state clean energy mandates.
"This report provides a menu of key federal and state clean energy matters in which state attorneys general are involved. It confirms that state attorneys general are playing a central role in ensuring that neither the federal government, incumbent energy providers, or unscrupulous marketers are thwarting their states’ interest in equitably expanding their states’ clean energy production and use,” said David J. Hayes, Executive Director of the State Energy & Environmental Impact Center.
State Attorneys General: Empowering the Clean Energy Future details how state attorneys general are active in both federal and state clean energy matters. The report complements an earlier report by the State Impact Center that focused on a suite of environmental regulatory rollbacks that would negatively impact state clean energy and climate change interests by easing restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions from major sources in the coal, oil and gas, and automotive industries.
The State Energy & Environmental Impact Center is a non-partisan center at the NYU School of Law that is dedicated to working with state attorneys general to protect and advance clean energy, climate change, and environmental values and protections. It was launched in August 2017 with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies.
