TOPEKA, Kan. (Legal Newsline) — Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt has announced his state’s strategy to combat what it believes are illegal federal energy regulations and will continue to focus on protecting consumers.
Schmidt’s comments followed a news conference in New York in which former Vice President Al Gore joined with 17 state attorneys general who want to use state securities and consumer protection laws to look into statements made by energy companies about climate science years ago. Schmidt is not among those attorneys.
“I want to assure you that the state of Kansas is not participating in the Gore group’s initiative, which one reporter at the New York news conference likened to a ‘publicity stunt,’” Schmidt wrote. “Instead, Kansas remains committed to working with the separate coalition of 27 states that are in court fighting the federal administration’s ‘Power Plan.’ Our 27-state, bipartisan coalition has successfully convinced the U.S. Supreme Court that the federal administration’s regulatory power grab likely is illegal and should be blocked while the lower courts sort out its legality.”
Schmidt said that his comments were to reassure the Kansas Corporation Commission, which had concerns about the federal government’s “Power Plan” initiative.
“In Kansas, we won’t take our eye off the ball,” Schmidt wrote. “The federal administration’s attempt to impose central economic planning over our nation’s energy sector threatens to significantly drive up the cost of electricity for hard-working Kansas families and businesses.”