States with poor climate policy ‘overlap’ with those seeking to limit rights, Kamala Harris says in letter to Sen. Cruz
A California Democrat who’s been leading the fight to rein in global warming has asked Sen. Ted Cruz to join her effort to push the Senate to take up a resolution condemning the Trump administration’s proposed rollback of the Clean Power Plan.
U.S. Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts have both signed letters to Cruz urging him to work with them and other senators to call on the Trump administration to scrap the Clean Power Plan.
Both letters cite a recent federal analysis that concluded that President Donald Trump’s proposed rollback, issued in October, would result in a net loss of nearly 19 million jobs in the United States.
“With the rollbacks of the Clean Power Plan and other efforts to roll back climate change protections being announced by the Trump administration,” Harris said, “I am writing to ask you to join me in using your position as Senator to call on the Senate to take up the Clean Power Plan resolution.”
The letter comes just two weeks after Harris co-sponsored a resolution with Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) calling for the Senate to take up a resolution that would condemn global warming and denounce Trump’s rollback of the Clean Power Plan.
Harris’ letter to Cruz said Trump administration officials have suggested that the clean power plan is illegal and that those “who oppose the plan could be charged criminally under Title 18 for their efforts.”
The Clean Power Plan’s rollback would lead to a net decrease in employment by between 7 and 13 million American households, the letter said. It also would result in the loss of $15 billion in revenue to the U.S. economy.
“As your colleague, I am deeply concerned about the impact of President Trump’s administration on our state and the country,” Harris said in her letter. “As the people and governor of a state