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DENVER \u2013 Gov. John Hickenlooper\u2019s office on Tuesday defended actions this week that put the Democratic governor at odds with the state\u2019s Republican attorney general over federal standards for carbon-dioxide pollution.<\/p>\n
Close advisers to the governor believe Cynthia Coffman overstepped her authority last week in joining a multistate lawsuit seeking to block the new rule. They also believe the attorney general has relied too heavily on lawsuits since being elected last year.<\/p>\n
The Environmental Protection Agency rule calls for a reduction in carbon-dioxide emissions by 28 percent in Colorado and 32 percent nationally by 2030. The state is charged with developing a specific plan for Colorado.<\/p>\n
On Monday, Hickenlooper announced that he would seek guidance from the Colorado Supreme Court about whether Coffman is within her authority to join 23 other states in the lawsuit.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe think the law is clear that she doesn\u2019t have this authority,\u201d Doug Friednash, Hickenlooper\u2019s chief of staff, told The Durango Herald. \u201cThat authority clearly is within the governor\u2019s discretion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coffman\u2019s office strongly disagrees, suggesting that the attorney general serves as a check and balance in state government, which is why the attorney general is elected by the people.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe governor\u2019s action is an expression of his frustration with the legal challenges I have filed against the federal government,\u201d Coffman said in a statement. \u201cI am pursuing those challenges because it is my responsibility as the independently elected attorney general to serve as a check against the abusive, unlawful exercise of federal power over the lives of Colorado\u2019s citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coffman earlier this year joined a lawsuit against the EPA for a new rule expanding federal authority over small bodies of water. Likewise, she joined a lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management\u2019s proposed rules governing hydraulic fracturing on federal lands.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many more lawsuits does this attorney general have in mind?\u201d asked Alan Salazar, the governor\u2019s chief strategist. \u201cDo we have to anticipate what that looks like, and will future governors have to deal with it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Hickenlooper told reporters last week that he is tired of lawsuits.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore lawsuits. More lawsuits,\u201d he quipped. \u201cLawsuits should be a last resort.\u201d<\/p>\n
There have been clear examples in the past of Colorado attorneys general suing out of step with the interests of the governor\u2019s office, including lawsuits to protect the state\u2019s ban on gay marriage and to overturn the Affordable Care Act.<\/p>\n
But the governor\u2019s office said the current lawsuit is unique, as it puts state offices in direct conflict with each other. There are also concerns about diminishing the governor\u2019s attorney-client relationship with the attorney general.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe attorney general is at the same time advising some of our state agencies about the meaning of the new Clean Power rule, about what their authority is under the Clean Power rule, about how to implement the new Clean Power rule, and at the same time, she is challenging the validity of those rules,\u201d said Jacki Cooper Melmed, Hickenlooper\u2019s chief legal counsel.<\/p>\n
Coffman, however, contends it is her obligation to sue.<\/p>\n
\u201cColoradans \u2026 elected each of us to serve different roles within our system of checks and balances,\u201d Coffman said. \u201cIf the governor is arguing that the attorney general cannot take legal action in the best interest of the state without his express permission, he is departing from past examples during his own tenure and decisions of the Colorado Supreme Court.\u201d<\/p>\n