Trump’s Department of Energy has recently made a streak of consequential decisions that will increase climate and health-harming pollution and increase energy bills: extending the life of uneconomic coal-fired power plants, rolling back energy efficiency standards, and canceling financing for green manufacturing projects (which will also cancel the associated jobs).
“We will not stand by and allow the Trump Administration to continue breaking the law. Secretary Chris Wright and the entire Department of Energy are legally required to share the details of the agency’s communications with industry and other outside influencers.” said Elena Saxonhouse, Sierra Club Managing Attorney and FOIA Lead. “Government transparency is needed now more than ever—especially with a gas executive in charge of the agency—and the American people have the right to know if government officials are serving our best interests. We will continue doing everything we can in the courts to hold the Department of Energy and the entire Trump Administration accountable to the law.”
Sierra Club filed the suit in federal district court in Oakland, California, where the organization is headquartered, to compel the agency’s response to the two requests. Sierra Club is represented by Van Swearingen and Eric Monek Anderson of Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP.
Sierra Club’s Environmental Law Program (ELP) ramped up its Freedom of Information Act work this year in response to actions taken by the second Trump Administration. During Trump’s first Administration, Sierra Club’s ELP FOIA work was crucial in exposing numerous scandals. Most notably, the Sierra Club’s efforts helped lead to the resignation of Trump’s first EPA Administrator, Scott Pruitt.
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About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person’s right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.