President Trump has called on the U.S. Department of Justice to block states from enforcing climate change laws.
Trump issued the directive in an executive order titled "Protecting American Energy From State Overreach."
Hawaiʻi is not explicitly named in the order, but it does target states with laws addressing "'climate change' or involving 'environmental, social, and governance' initiatives, 'environmental justice,' carbon or 'greenhouse gas' emissions."
"Those concepts are littered throughout Hawaiʻi's energy policy, because Hawaiʻi is taking those issues seriously," said Richard Wallsgrove, who co-directs the environmental law program at the University of Hawaiʻi William S. Richardson School of Law.
He believes the potential impact of the order on Hawaiʻi is uncertain.
Wallsgrove said that the courts have generally upheld states' rights to establish laws that regulate fossil fuel use within their own borders, like Hawaiʻi's 100% renewable portfolio standard goal.
"In the traditional legal precedent sense, I don't think the executive order means much for Hawaiʻi climate laws," he said.
But Wallsgrove added that the executive order may signal that the Trump administration is willing to find "extrajudicial ways" to pressure states into changing their policies. He pointed to the funding freeze that the administration placed on Harvard after the university refused to comply with a list of demands.
The order also directs the U.S. attorney general to "take all appropriate action" to stop states from pursuing legal action related to greenhouse gas emissions.
Honolulu County and Maui County both have high-profile lawsuits against the fossil fuel industry. Those cases allege that major oil companies deceived the public about the relationship between fossil fuels and climate change.
Wallsgrove said it's unclear if Trump intended the executive order to apply to those cases, as they were brought by counties and not states.
"I think they're certainly aware in Washington [that] those lawsuits are proceeding," he said.
In January, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a bid by the oil companies to take up one of the cases, Honolulu v. Sunoco, which cleared the way for Honolulu’s lawsuit to go to trial.
"It's pretty clear at this point, [those cases] belong before state courts. And so it would be a pretty radical thing to disrupt federalism so strongly you go against the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on an issue like that," Wallsgrove said.
"But perhaps because of the notoriety of those two lawsuits, maybe those are at risk with this executive order."
