NY AG Takes 100th Action Against Trump Administration In 2017

It's been a busy year for New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who not only took on car defects, data breaches and phony charities in the state but also turned his gimlet eye on the new administration and the effects of its actions on state residents. That list includes travel bans on Muslims, corruption in the net neutrality decision — and on Tuesday, a lawsuit against the EPA over smog.

The New York Times has been keeping count. The Times reported that the EPA lawsuit was the 100th action Schneiderman has taken in 2017 against the Trump administration.

Schneiderman filed suit to force action under the Clean Air Act to ensure upwind states adequately control the pollution that blows into New York and other downwind states. The suit challenges Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt’s denial of a petition that New York and several other states filed in late 2013.

“Millions of New Yorkers are breathing unhealthy air as smog pollution continues to pour in from other states,” Schneiderman said when he announced the suit. “The federal government has a fundamental responsibility to act. Yet the Trump EPA has abandoned its responsibilities – repeatedly failing to act to control smog pollution that jeopardizes New Yorkers’ health. Attorneys General will continue to act to protect those we serve.”

The lower Hudson Valley and Long Island are among the areas of New York that are particularly affected, he said. According to the American Lung Association’s “2017 State of the Air Report,” the NYC metropolitan area ranks as the 9th most smog-polluted city in the nation.

Tuesday’s suit, which was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, asks the court to review Administrator Pruitt’s denial of the petition. The coalition will ask the court to determine that the denial is unlawful and to vacate it. Joining Schneiderman in the suit are the Attorneys General of Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

That's No. 100. Earlier in December, No. 99 was Schneiderman's announcement that he and 16 other attorneys general would file suit challenging the FCC's decision to end net neutrality, a process he said was corrupted by "identity theft … on a massive scale."

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PHOTO: New York Attorney Eric Schneiderman at a press conference/ NY AG's Office