RUTLAND, Vt. (AP) - Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan says he’s prepared to defend the state’s new clean energy law, even if the challenge comes from the governor.
His position is detailed in a letter sent to Gov. Phil Scott’s legal counsel after the administration sought a meeting to discuss the constitutionality of the Global Warming Solutions Act, the Rutland Herald reported.
Scott, a Republican, vetoed the bill, but lawmakers overrode the veto.
“The Legislature passed a bill, the governor, as is his right, vetoed it, and the Legislature overrode his veto, that’s how the system works. It’s the law of the state of Vermont and I’m going to defend it,” Donovan said.
The law creates the Vermont Climate Council, which can set rules and deadlines to be implemented by the Agency of Natural Resources.
The disagreement centers on whether the law takes authority from the executive branch and cedes it the Vermont Climate Council.
The Legislature has the power to create rule-making bodies and delegate its own authority to them, but there are concerns that the structure of the law could take power away from Agency of Natural Resources, said, Jaye Pershing Johnson, the governor’s counsel.
As the law is set up, the ANR has no power or discretion to modify the rules it’s given to enforce, and it would open itself up to lawsuits if it opted against implementing the council’s recommendations, she wrote.
“The fixes could be relatively simple, but we’re not looking to undermine the goal of the law as passed,” she said.
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