PHOENIX – Attorney General Mayes today filed suit alongside 14 other state attorneys general to challenge President Trump’s fake “energy emergency,” declared to enrich Big Oil and gut environmental protections by fast-tracking polluting energy projects without proper review.
On Inauguration Day, President Donald Trump declared a “national energy emergency” under the National Emergencies Act. That law was passed to ensure presidents don’t abuse emergency powers for partisan gain — exactly what the Trump administration is doing.
At the president’s direction, federal agencies are bypassing critical environmental and public health reviews required under the Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act. These laws safeguard Arizona’s rivers, wildlife, and tribal heritage.
U.S. energy production is already at record highs. The president’s order won’t increase supply — but it will drive up prices by boosting exports and allow polluters to trample state protections and public lands.
“This so-called emergency is nothing more than a political stunt designed to benefit fossil fuel companies at the expense of Arizonans’ health and safety,” said Attorney General Mayes. “Arizona will not stand by while the federal government trashes environmental safeguards, endangers Tribal lands, and undermines clean energy in favor of outdated, polluting fuels.”
Federal agencies have historically used emergency procedures only in true crises, like hurricanes or catastrophic oil spills — not to push through fossil fuel projects without public input or science-based analysis. Yet agencies are now acting under emergency protocols simply because the president ordered it.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, names President Trump, the head of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. Both agencies are implementing the president’s directive in violation of the law.
The attorneys general ask the court to declare the executive order and its implementation illegal, and to halt the issuance of emergency permits under this unauthorized policy.
Joining Attorney General Mayes in filing the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Washington, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.
A copy of the complaint is available below.