From Environment Virginia, which just finished an “invoice delivery” event at Attorney General Cuccinelli’s office. I’m told that when asked for comment by the press about the $890 million invoice being delivered, Cooch’s office refused to comment. “They even sent a policeman down to inform us that they would not be commenting.” Wow.
*Attorney General Cuccinelli Lawsuit Would Cost Commonwealth Millions*
Richmond – Last week, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli declared his attention to file a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency’s new Clean Car Rule. The reasoning for this newest lawsuit is based on the fact that he has challenged the EPA’s endangerment finding for carbon dioxide which was issued in December.
“Attorney General Cuccinelli continues to head out of bounds with this lawsuit,” said Environment Virginia Advocate J.R. Tolbert. “This action, if successful, will cost Virginia consumers millions of dollars at the pump. He is practically telling the world that Virginians want to pay $4.00 per gallon of gas.”
In reaction to the proposed lawsuit, Environment Virginia delivered a bill to the office of the Attorney General asking Mr. Cuccinelli to pay the people of Virginia $890 million for savings lost in 2016. The group conducted an analysis of the benefits to consumers nationwide from the new Clean Car Rule. The key findings of the report included:
* The new rule will reduce consumption of gasoline by more than 11
billions annually beginning in 2016.
* Global warming pollution will be reduced by more than 107 million
metric tons, the equivalent of taking 21,391,472 cars off the road
for one year.
* Consumers nationwide will save over $31 billion dollars at the gas
pump from increased fuel efficiency associated with the new rule.“The facts speak for themselves. The attorney general’s actions threaten the nation’s public health and economy. People deserve to know what’s at stake, and Mr. Cuccinelli’s crusade against the federal government could cost our bank accounts and environment deeply,” continued Tolbert.
Environment Virginia is opposed to the attorney general’s previous lawsuit against the EPA. The group points out that the Supreme Court ordered the EPA to undertake the endangerment finding process in Massachusetts v. EPA (2007). Following the Supreme Court’s decision the EPA conferred with other United States government agencies, held multiple public hearings and took public comment before issuing the finding.
“Virginia’s leaders should be focused on making the Commonwealth a leader in 21^st century technologies not undertaking ideological campaigns to halt innovation. The Attorney General has positioned himself as a pothole on the road to progress, and just like Governor McDonnell we’re committed to filling in Virginia’s potholes so people know we’re open for business,” concluded Tolbert.
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