Jeffrey Bossert Clark, a lawyer who was part of the legal team that represented BP in the lawsuits filed against them relating to the infamous Deepwater Horizon spill, has been nominated by President Trump to serve as the assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.
Clark has a long history of challenging the scientific foundations of U.S. climate policy. He is currently a partner in the Washington D.C. office of Kirkland & Ellis and has repeatedly represented the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in lawsuits challenging the federal government’s authority to regulate carbon emissions.
After the Deepwater Horizon spill, Clark defended the company against “a multibillion-dollar appeal brought by 11 Louisiana parishes.” He then went on to become lead counsel on BP’s appeal of the damages awarded in the case.
Additionally, Clark has signed legal briefs that included thoroughly debunked denials of the scientific consensus of greenhouse gases. One of the briefs claims that the new regulations under the Clean Air Act, “generated what quite likely are the costliest regulations ever promulgated based on EPA’s belief that it can take a red pencil to plain statutory text.”
Clark has historically argued against administrative agencies, like the EPA, claiming that they “aren’t even acting like a junior varsity Congress. It’s more like they are a wayward football team. They are calling their own plays.”
If confirmed, Clark will lead litigation efforts for the federal government on all environmental issues and will be responsible for defending the EPA.
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