State officials are still scratching their heads over how — or whether — to respond to the executive order President Donald Trump signed last week targeting state climate laws.
Trump’s order, titled “Protecting American Energy from State Overreach,” directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to “stop the enforcement” of state climate laws, from cap-and-trade systems to environmental justice programs to state permitting requirements — singling out California, New York and Vermont.
But little has changed since Trump signed the order, officials say. That’s left state leaders in the uneasy position of defending their states’ policies while wondering what might provoke the administration into targeting them.
The order is so vaguely written that many questions remain about how it could be enforced, or even what the Trump administration might ultimately target, Michael O’Grady, the deputy chief counsel for Vermont’s Office of Legislative Counsel, told lawmakers Tuesday.
