The Trump administration just sued California for trying to fight climate change

Not only is the Trump administration failing to take climate action on its own, it’s trying to hold back those who actually are. The U.S. Department of Justice is now suing California for taking part in a collaborative greenhouse gas emissions program, called the Western Climate Initiative, between California and the Canadian province of Quebec. The administration claims that California is unable to enter an agreement with a foreign government, but there is in fact nothing to prohibit voluntary cooperation between American states and their counterparts in other countries. Far more likely is that the administration simply has a political axe to grind: In recent months, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has gone after California’s ability to set more protective fuel efficiency standards, threatened to pull the state’s highway funding, and bypassed its own regional experts to deliver an exaggerated warning about California’s water quality standards.