"Trump's Words Could Jeopardize His Environmental Rollbacks, Too"

"President Donald Trump’s words may come back to haunt him in court as he moves to roll back regulations that fight climate change, just as they did when he tried to ban travel from six predominantly Muslim countries.

Environmentalists are scrutinizing Trump’s tweets and the phrasing of presidential orders, looking for evidence that an action is driven by politics or that a review of regulations is being carried out with a specific outcome in mind. That could be used in a lawsuit to argue that the process is a sham and violates federal law governing rulemaking.

'If there’s anything that suggests that it’s a politically motivated decision instead of a rationally based decision, that’s always something we put before the court,' said Abigail Dillen, vice president of litigation for climate and energy at Earthjustice. 'Explosive statements' in a White House order 'can and will be used against them,' she said."

Jennifer A Dlouhy reports for Bloomberg March 22, 2017.