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Fifteen states challenge Trump's energy emergency • Daily Montanan [1]

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Date: 2025-07-01

President Donald Trump’s energy emergency declaration, enacted through a Jan. 20 executive order, has drawn frequent criticism from environmentalists who argue the order serves as a front to expand the use of fossil fuels over clean energy resources. Now 15 states are suing the Trump administration, arguing the emergency order could bring them serious harm.

The states, each represented by Democratic attorneys general, brought action on behalf of their residents and natural resources, arguing the federal government’s use of emergency permitting procedures bypass critical ecological, historical and cultural resource reviews.

“The Executive Order is unlawful, and its commands that federal agencies disregard the law and in many cases their own regulations to fast-track extensive categories of activities will result in damage to waters, wetlands, critical habitat, historic and cultural resources, endangered species, and the people and wildlife that rely on these precious resources,” the lawsuit reads.

In response to a request for comment from Michigan Advance, White House Assistant Press Secretary Taylor Rogers reiterated the administration’s position.

“In the best interest of our economic and national security, President Trump declared a National Energy Emergency to save America’s energy industry stifled by Joe Biden’s radical climate agenda. Democrat State Officials can cry about our energy dominance while the rest of the country celebrates the lowest gas prices since 2021,” Rogers said.

While the suit acknowledges the need for infrastructure to support a reliable and affordable energy supply for the states and the nation, it argues the president’s powers are reserved for actual emergencies, noting earlier in the complaint that energy production in the U.S. is at an all time high and growing.

The shortcuts inherent in these powers undermine the rights of the states, the complaint argues, noting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s regulations only authorize “emergency procedures” when normal procedures would result in unacceptable hazard to human life, significant loss of property, or immediate, unforeseen, and significant economic hardship. Federal agencies to date have limited emergency procedures to necessary projects during, or in the aftermath of natural or human-made disasters, according to the complaint.

To prevent any potential harm, the plaintiff states asked the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington to declare the executive order unlawful and bar federal agencies from pursuing emergency permitting on non-emergency projects.

In Michigan, Tribal Nations and environmental activists have spoken out as the Corps moves forward with emergency processing procedures for Enbridge’s Line 5 tunnel project, which would replace dual oil and natural gas pipelines running through the lakebed where Lake Michigan and Huron meet, with a new segment housed inside a concrete-lined tunnel buried beneath the bedrock.

While the tunnel project came as part of any agreement with the state to minimize the risk of an oil spill, opponents of the project argue construction would harm nearby wetlands, while still carrying risk for an oil spill.

The project’s public comment window came to an end on Monday.

The states other than Michigan filing the lawsuit include Arizona, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.

This story was originally produced by the Michigan Advance which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network, including the Daily Montanan, supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.

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[1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/2025/07/01/fifteen-states-challenge-trumps-energy-emergency/

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