Trump issues order to block state climate change policies

(Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Tuesday that aims to block the enforcement of state laws passed to reduce the use of fossil fuels and combat climate change.

The move is the latest in a string of efforts by Trump's administration to pump up domestic energy output and push back against largely Democratic-led policies to curb carbon emissions. It came just hours after Trump, a Republican, issued orders to increase coal production.

The order directed the U.S. attorney general to identify state laws that address climate change, ESG initiatives, environmental justice and carbon emissions, and to take action to block them.

"Many States have enacted, or are in the process of enacting, burdensome and ideologically motivated 'climate change' or energy policies that threaten American energy dominance and our economic and national security," the order said.

Trump specifically cited laws in New York and Vermont that fine fossil fuel companies for their contribution to climate change, California's cap-and-trade policy, and lawsuits by states that have sought to hold energy companies accountable for their role in global warming.

The two Democratic governors who co-chair the U.S. Climate Alliance - Kathy Hochul of New York and Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico - said states could not be stripped of their authority and would not be deterred by the executive order.

"We will keep advancing solutions to the climate crisis that safeguard Americans' fundamental right to clean air and water, create good-paying jobs, grow the clean energy economy, and make our future healthier and safer,” they said in a joint statement.

The Alliance is a group of 24 governors dedicated to climate action.

The American Petroleum Institute, an oil and gas trade group, praised the order.

"We welcome President Trump's action to hold states like New York and California accountable for pursuing unconstitutional efforts that illegally penalize U.S. oil and natural gas producers for delivering the energy American consumers rely on every day," API Senior Vice President Ryan Meyers said in a statement.



(Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)