Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday accused the attorneys general of Texas and West Virginia of “crass obstructionism” in the days leading up to international climate talks in France.
West Virginia’s Patrick Morrisey and Texas’ Ken Paxton, who are suing to stop President Obama’s climate change regulations, want world leaders to know that they think those regulations are not legal.
They copied leaders of six countries on a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry arguing Obama’s plans for greenhouse gas reductions “will likely be struck down.”
“Frankly, your thoughts here are, at best, legally flimsy,” Brown said in a letter to the two. “At worst, you’re sending a dangerous message to the world: on climate change, do nothing.”
Texas is the leading oil-producing state and West Virginia second biggest coal producer. Demand for both commodities would be affected by reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
“Crass obstructionism is not a solution,” Brown wrote.
Brown, a former attorney general himself, told the two, “You do not speak for California. You do not speak for the other cities, counties and states across America that stand firmly with the President and have intervened to defend the Clean Power Plan.”
In addition to the letter, Brown sent the attorneys general flash drives with the complete 841-page report on “Climate Change Impacts in the United States: The Third National Climate Assessment” by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.
Brown plans to attend the talks beginning Monday in France.