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November 05, 2015 10:51 AM UTC

GOP's Clean Power Insurgency a Cavalcade of Stupid

  • 16 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols
Attorney General Cynthia Coffman.
Attorney General Cynthia Coffman.

As promised late last months when Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman announced her decision to join a lawsuit against the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan, Gov. John Hickenlooper formally petitioned the Colorado Supreme Court yesterday to stop Coffman taking legal actions that contravene the policies of his administration. AP reports via CBS4:

Gov. John Hickenlooper asked the Colorado Supreme Court on Wednesday to rule that he, not the state’s attorney general, has the final say on whether to sue the federal government.

Hickenlooper’s petition comes after he complained that Attorney General Cynthia Coffman should not have joined about two dozen other states in suing the Environmental Protection Agency over new air pollution rules without his authorization…

Jacki Cooper Melmed, chief legal counsel to the governor, said Coffman has filed an unprecedented number of lawsuits without the support of or collaboration with her clients. “This raises serious questions about the use of state dollars and the attorney-client relationship between the governor, state agencies and the attorney general,” Melmed said.

Gov. John Hickenlooper and AG Cynthia Coffman in happier times.
Gov. John Hickenlooper and AG Cynthia Coffman in happier times.

From Hickenlooper’s petition to the Colorado Supreme Court yesterday:

In this Petition, he requests a ruling on the Governor’s and Attorney General’s respective authority under the Constitution and laws of Colorado to determine whether the State of Colorado should sue the United States. The Governor asks this Court to issue a legal declaration that (1) the Governor, not the Attorney General, has ultimate authority to decide on behalf of the State of Colorado whether to sue the federal government, and (2) the Attorney General’s lawsuits against the federal government without the Governor’s authorization must be withdrawn…

The Attorney General lacks statutory authority to bring these federal lawsuits unless “required to do so by the governor.” [Pols emphasis] C.R.S. § 24-31-101(1)(a). Nor does the “common law” allow her to circumvent the statutory limitations and undermine the Governor’s constitutional authority to set Colorado executive branch policy.

We we’ve discussed previously in relation to the Clean Power Plan and Attorney General Coffman’s decision to sue the federal government to stop it, our state is considered to be in a leading position to meet the new standards. A result of legislation passed by our General Assembly in recent years and the constitutional renewable energy standard set forth in 2004’s Amendment 37, we’re well ahead of the curve.

Sen. Ray Scott (R).
Sen. Ray Scott (R).

But as a report in the conservative Business Times out of Grand Junction unintentionally makes clear, opponents are not reliant on, you know, rational arguments.

While Colorado is already an estimated 80 percent on the way to achieving lower emissions standards, [Pols emphasis] Attorney General Cynthia Coffman joined in a lawsuit challenging the plan as federal overreach…

[Sen. Ray Scott] took exception to the state’s renewable energy standard and the push by state and federal regulators to mandate the increase use of renewable energy sources for electrical generation. “Solar has a problem, it’s called night,” he said. [Pols emphasis]

Yes, folks, he really said that.

Back in the land of adult dialogue, Colorado’s leadership on renewable energy standards may indeed have made the state an ironic target for energy industry flacks like attorney Mike Nasi–who according to open-records documents we received played a questionably big role in persuading Cynthia Coffman to join this lawsuit. But for the rest of the state government Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper is in charge of, Coffman’s lawsuit is totally discordant with the agenda they’ve been progressing toward for years–an agenda the voters of Colorado mandated with the passage of Amendment 37, and the legislature strengthened with subsequent laws signed by Govs. Bill Ritter and Hickenlooper.

With these facts in mind, Hickenlooper not only has the right, but the obligation to rein in a rogue attorney general off pursuing her own ideological flight of fancy in opposition to the state’s explicit policy goals–goals in place long before she was ever elected. And if Republican lawmakers don’t want to make fools of themselves while she does, they might want to come up with less ridiculous arguments themselves.

Because this really is quite embarrassing. For all of them.

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16 thoughts on “GOP’s Clean Power Insurgency a Cavalcade of Stupid”

      1. I normally wouldn't care but I sat on a non-profit board with Nasi a decade ago.  A really good guy and I'm frankly shocked he'd in the middle of this cluster.  I guess everyone has their price.

  3. If Coffman wants to sue as private citizen energy industry shill Cynthia Coffman, that's great. If she is suing as Attorney General it needs to reflect the policy of the state. She is off on her own and that's not her job.

    1. …except that one path means the state's checkbook, the other route requires her own.  She's just being fiscally responsible.  To her own resources.

  4. Attorney General Coffman is exposing herself to significant political risks by filing these lawsuits without consulting the Governor.

    First, she is taking a position that will be interpreted politically as anti-environment, including anti clean water and clean air. By doing so, she is exposing herself to the obvious question of what is she doing to insure we have the cleanest environment possible. If the federal government doesn't have the authority then what is she doing to insure pollution is curtailed, held in check or reduced. If she doesn't have a viable answer she will be forever on the wrong side of the environment issue.

    Second, she has exposed herself to a logical political charge (already noted in this thread) that her legal positions are in contravention of the environmental policy set by the electorate through initiated measures and by the General Assembly through statutes. In short she is going against the will of her constituents. NOTE TO REPUBLICAN MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY: Don't be too fast in running to her defense. If she thinks she has complete independent authority to move against stated public policy, that means the policy and statutes you support are subject to her every whim too.

    Third, if she looses this case she will look like an incompetent lawyer. Never a good thing for an attorney general and that will feed the continuing narrative that she really doesn't know what she is doing (e.g. Chair House debacle).

    She has placed her political career at significant risk for no good reason but she rolled the dice and now she'll have to live with the consequences.

    1. In fairness to the AG, I think her work in the OutHouse affair, and her attempt to have meetings with officials in violation of open meetings law during the Animas River spill indicate that the ship has already sailed on #3.

    2. Thanks 36 but I wouldn't be ascribing too much subtly to her motives or tactics.  Don't over think this one.  It is equally plausible that it was just a knee jerk reaction by an oily Republican to oppose any directives or rulings by the EPA or Obama Administration.  They don't think.  They just react within a limited set of behaviors and suing is usually one of the first.

    3. She has placed her political career at significant risk for no good reason but she rolled the dice and now she'll have to live with the consequences.

      If the Steve House thing is any guide…

      1. The oil and gas industry uses many useful tools. One us called a blowout preventer…another is known as a swabbing cup..yet another is known as a " Ray Scott"

  6. I like my AGs to have a bit of power to challenge bad laws (or to refrain from upholding them). But there's a point at which it ceases to be strictly a matter of legal challenges and becomes a point of policy.

    There is nothing in Colorado law to give the AG cause to file suit in this case, and it is up to the governor and legislature to tackle the state's stance on the CPP before anyone files suit.

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