Virginia Attorney General Faces Lawsuit for Hiring Privately Funded Environmental Activists - Climate Litigation Watch

Virginia Attorney General Faces Lawsuit for Hiring Privately Funded Environmental Activists

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring was hit with a lawsuit on Wednesday for his involvement in a questionable program that places privately funded environmental activists in his office.

The Competitive Enterprise Institute filed the lawsuit as part of its continuing efforts to expose what it sees as a scheme.

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (above left) launched a program alongside the New York University School of Law that places lawyers in the offices of state attorneys general. The purpose: to go after energy companies and advance environmental policies.

Democratic state attorney generals in several states signed onto the program — but it has seemed to taper out since facing increased legal scrutiny in recent weeks.

Virginia posed a rather interesting case and thus attracted the lawsuit over the other states.

The top attorney in the state simply said there was no law prohibiting the action, but then was unable to prove that assertion.

“The question is, did they, in fact, conclude this,” CEI senior fellow Chris Horner told LifeZette. “Or did they just say it? Because it is inconceivable that the top legal office for the state, if it looked at the law, could conclude there are no legal impediments to a privately funded Special Assistant Attorney General in Virginia. And it’s equally inconceivable the top lawyer for the state would just say that, without looking at the law.”

Read the rest of the article at LifeZette here.