Sunsetting EO: “There’s No Magic Wand” for the WH to Erase Existing Rules

Media Contact

Josh Mogerman
Managing Director, Media and Public Affairs

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Trump signed an executive order that would attempt to erase hundreds of existing rules protecting the environment and public health. This is the latest example of the administration attempting to exert power that the president does not have under the Constitution of the United States of America.

Following is reaction from Michael Wall, chief litigation officer at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council):

“This executive order is illegal. Congress passed these laws, and the president's constitutional duty is to carry out those statutes; he has zero power to rewrite them. 

“There’s no magic wand the administration might wave to sweep away multiple rules on a White House whim. Any changes to the rules the president wants rescinded would have to be justified, rule by rule, with facts, evidence, and analysis specific to that rule. He cannot do this by fiat.

“This is a blatant attempt to blow away hundreds of protections for the public and nature; giving polluters permission to ignore whatever is coming out of their smokestacks while developers disregard endangered species protections and Big Oil no longer heeds the reforms put in place after the Deepwater Horizon disaster. I grew up in Los Angeles and remember air pollution so bad, it would burn my eyes and lungs. Our children should never have to experience that again."

“They tried something similar in the first Trump administration. It did not work then and is clearly illegal now. This will not stand.”

NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).

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