Al Gore and New York Attorney General launch climate coalition

Former US Vice President Al Gore and New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman launched a coalition on Tuesday aimed at protecting vital environmental policies and clean power regulations.

The AGs United for Clean Power coalition includes attorney generals from 25 states, territories, cities and counties across the US to explore and develop solutions to combat climate change.

Mr Gore, who is chairman of The Climate Reality Project, hailed the move as “the best, most hopeful step in years.”

The initiative will see joint investigations carried out into whether fossil fuel companies and industry groups mislead the public about climate change or the viability of renewable energy options.

Comparing oil and gas firms to tobacco companies in the 1990s that came under intense criticism for misleading the public over the health risks associated with smoking, Mr Gore said: “What these attorneys general are doing is extremely important. These brave members of this coalition are doing their job like they did in the tobacco case.”

In a statement, the New York attorney general’s office said the coalition will encourage the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to cut greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants under the governments Clean Power Plan, push for federal controls on methane emissions from the fossil fuel industry, and work on reducing emissions from large-scale industry facilities.

Mr Gore added: “We cannot continue to allow the fossil fuel industry or any industry to treat our atmosphere like an open sewer or mislead the public about the impact they have on the health of our people and the health of our planet… “Attorneys general and law enforcement officials around the country have long held a vital role in ensuring that the progress we have made to solve the climate crisis is not only protected, but advanced. The first-of-its-kind coalition announced today is another key step on the path to a sustainable, clean energy future.”

Gore and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman were joined by Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh, Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen, and United States Virgin Island Attorney General Claude Walker, as well as the legal representatives from 11 other states.