Description: Challenge to Washington governor's executive order concerning greenhouse gas emissions.
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Erickson v. Gregoire
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 10/22/2010 Order Download Order issued denying motion for preliminary injunction. A state court in Washington denied a motion for a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit challenging an executive order by Governor Christine Gregoire that laid the groundwork for a greenhouse gas emissions control program. The court held that the executive order fell within the Governor’s constitutional and statutory authority to issue policy statements and directives to state agencies. The plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed the case, asserting that "[w]hen the judge declared the governor’s executive order was not binding law, but only a non-binding 'directive,' the purpose of our lawsuit was upheld." 07/21/2010 Complaint Download Complaint filed. A conservative legal foundation filed a lawsuit challenging a 2009 executive order by Washington Governor Christine Gregoire. The executive order directed the Washington Department of Ecology to, among other things, continue participating in the Western Climate Initiative, to contact industrial facilities to determine a
baseline for greenhouse gas emissions, and to develop information for large facilities to determine how they could help meet greenhouse gas emissions goals in 2020. The lawsuit claimed that the executive order was unconstitutional because it had the force and effect of law and that such an obligation could not be created through an executive order.