Latest news with #SpenserHeaps
Yahoo
29-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Left-leaning national group is targeting these Utah legislative districts for 2026 election
Members of the House of Representatives work at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch) The national group Vote Save America — an online voter guide operated by the left-of-center political media company Crooked Media — is partnering with a Utah political action committee to recruit progressive candidates and target certain 'swing' legislative districts currently controlled by Republicans. Vote Save America is partnering with Elevate PAC (which is affiliated with Elevate Campaign strategies, a Utah-based political consulting firm) to 'actively recruit candidates' for the Utah Legislature ahead of the 2026 elections, according to a news release issued Tuesday. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'Backed by an initial $20,000 investment from Vote Save America, Elevate PAC is already recruiting candidates in key swing districts who are ready to bring new energy and leadership to the state Legislature,' the announcement said. The 'targeted' legislative districts include eight seats in the House and two in the Senate, both of which have been dominated by Republicans for decades. All but one district include areas concentrated in Salt Lake County, Utah's most populated county. They include: House District 10, currently held by Rep. Jill Koford, R-Ogden House District 26, currently held by Rep. Matt MacPherson, R-West Valley City House District 27, currently held by Rep. Anthony Loubet, R-Kearns House District 36, currently held by Rep. Jim Dunnigan, R-Taylorsville House District 39, currently held by Rep. Ken Ivory, R-West Jordan House District 42, currently held by Rep. Clinton Okerlund, R-Sandy House District 43, currently held by Rep. Steve Eliason, R-Sandy House District 44, currently held by Rep. Jordan Teuscher, R-South Jordan Senate District 18, currently held by Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton Senate District 19, currently held by Senate Majority Leader Kirk Cullimore, R-Draper Vote Save America is the political advocacy arm of Crooked Media, a media company founded by Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett and Tommy Vietor, who were all aides to former President Barack Obama, according to Influence Watch. The company hosts podcasts including Pod Save America and Lovett or Leave It, and encourages listeners to support progressive policies and vote for Democratic candidates. The national group is 'betting on Utah's shifting political landscape,' Tuesday's news release said. 'Long considered safely Republican, Utah is showing signs of becoming competitive in the coming years.' Utah during the 2024 presidential election remained solidly red. About 59.4% voted for President Donald Trump and 37.8% voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris, according to election results. Utah's 2024 election is certified, capping off a 'status quo' year for Republican dominance Democrats have a stronghold in Utah's capital of Salt Lake City and some areas including in Salt Lake County, but they have struggled to gain traction in other parts of the state. 'Utah is uniquely positioned for change,' Shaniqua McClendon, vice president of politics for Crooked Media, said in a prepared statement. 'It's the youngest state in the country, one of the fastest-growing, and the most college-educated red state. No state in the nation has moved further to the left over the past 20 years than Utah. There's an independent streak here that national politics has ignored for too long.' Gabi Finlayson, principal at Elevate PAC, said the partnership with Vote Save America 'gives us the resources and reach to go find the people who've been shut out or ignored — people with real stakes in their communities, not just the usual insiders.' 'This initial $20,000 is going directly toward identifying and vetting potential candidates,' Finlayson said. 'We're grateful to have a national partner that sees Utah the way we do: a real opportunity to build something different, right now. If you've never run for office before, if you've felt written off or overlooked, this is your chance.' Utah Republican Party Chairman Rob Axson did not immediately return a request for comment about the group's targeting of legislative seats currently controlled by Republicans. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Battles over public lands loom even after sell-off proposal fails
A sign welcomes visitors to Bureau of Land Management land near Cedar City, Utah. Utah and other states have pushed the federal government to hand over public lands, and a sweeping proposal in Congress could put millions of acres up for sale. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch) Hunters, hikers and outdoors lovers of all stripes mounted a campaign this month against a Republican proposal to sell off millions of acres of federal public land. The public outcry was so forceful that the measure's sponsor pledged to scale back the proposal. Then on Saturday, before an initial U.S. Senate vote on Republicans' mega tax and spending bill, he withdrew it altogether. But even though the land sales proposal was defeated, experts say federal lands face a slew of other threats from President Donald Trump's administration. Agency leaders have proposed rolling back the 'Roadless Rule' that protects 58 million acres from logging and other uses. Trump's Justice Department has issued a legal opinion that the president is allowed to abolish national monuments. Regulators have moved to slash environmental rules to ramp up logging and oil and gas production. And Trump's cuts to the federal workforce have gutted the ranks of the agencies that manage federal lands. 'This is not over even if the sell-off proposal doesn't make it,' said John Leshy, who served as solicitor for the U.S. Department of the Interior during the Clinton administration. 'The whole thing about leasing or selling timber or throwing them open to mining claims, that's a form of partial privatization. It's pretty much a giveaway.' Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum has repeatedly described public lands as America's 'balance sheet.' He has argued that some lands could be used to provide housing, while calling for an expansion of mining and oil and gas drilling to increase their economic output. 'President Trump's energy dominance vision will end those wars abroad, will make life more affordable for every family in America by driving down inflation,' Burgum said before his confirmation hearing. Public lands advocates are bracing for ongoing battles for the rest of Trump's term in office. They expect Republicans to add last-minute public lands amendments to other bills moving through Congress, and for land management agencies to attempt to strip protections from other federal lands. Given the vocal backlash to the initial sell-off plan, advocates expect future attempts to be shaped behind closed doors and advanced with little time for opponents to mount a defense. Meanwhile, they expect states to play a key role in shaping those battles. In Western states, where most federally owned lands are located, many leaders from both parties view public lands as special places open to all Americans and critical for clean water, wildlife and tourism. But some conservatives resent the fact that large portions of their states are managed by officials in Washington, D.C., limiting development and private enterprise. Officials in some states, including Idaho, Utah and Wyoming, have pushed lawsuits or resolutions seeking to force the feds to hand over huge amounts of land. Public land experts say the lawmakers behind those efforts will likely press harder now that Trump is in the White House. Such state-level takeover attempts could shape the proposals that emerge from Trump's allies in Washington. The firestorm over federal lands exploded when Utah Sen. Mike Lee, a Republican, introduced legislation that would force the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to sell up to 3.3 million acres of land. The measure also would direct the agencies to make more than 250 million additional acres eligible for sale. 'We've never seen a threat on this magnitude ever,' said Devin O'Dea, Western policy and conservation manager with Backcountry Hunters & Anglers. 'There's been an overwhelming amount of opposition. We've seen record-breaking engagement on this issue.' Lee, a longtime federal lands opponent, claimed the lands were needed for housing and argued the government has been a poor manager of its land. 'Washington has proven time and again it can't manage this land,' Lee said earlier this month when announcing the proposal. 'This bill puts it in better hands.' But a wide-ranging coalition of opponents argued that the proposal had no protections to ensure the lands would be used for affordable housing, and that many of the parcels eligible for sale had little housing potential. A furious social media campaign highlighted cherished hiking trails, fishing lakes and ski slopes that were in danger of being sold, urging people to call their lawmakers to oppose the measure. In recent days, Montana Republican U.S. Sens. Steve Daines and Tim Sheehy, as well as Idaho Republican U.S. Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, came out in opposition to the land sale proposal. That put into question whether Lee's legislation could earn even a simple majority. Then the Senate parliamentarian ruled the sell-off could not be included in the reconciliation bill without a 60-vote majority. That ruling came a day after Lee posted on social media that he would be making changes to the bill in response to concerns from Hunter Nation, a nonprofit whose board includes Donald Trump Jr. Lee released a scaled-back measure last week that would exempt national forest lands but would direct the Bureau of Land Management to sell up to 1.2 million acres. It would require land for sale to be within five miles of a population center and developed to provide housing. Public land advocates say Lee's changes did little to assuage their concerns. They argue that federal land sales or transfers should happen through the current, long-standing process, which requires local stakeholder input and directs the proceeds from land sales to be reinvested into conservation and public access on other parcels. 'It's the overwhelming belief of hunters and anglers that the budget reconciliation process is not the appropriate vehicle for public land sales,' said O'Dea, with the hunting and fishing group. On Saturday evening, Lee announced that he was withdrawing the proposal, saying that Senate rules did not allow him to include protections that land would not be sold to foreign interests. But he pledged to continue the battle over federal land ownership, working with Trump to 'put underutilized federal land to work for American families.' While the sell-off proposal aligned with some state officials' goal of taking over federal lands, some lands experts say private developers would have been the real winner. 'If the lands are transferred to the states without money, the states lose,' said Leshy, the former Interior Department official. 'It's a hit on their budget, which means they're gonna have to sell them off. If states got a significant amount of public lands, a lot of that would end up in private hands.' In Utah, where leaders have made the most aggressive push to take over federal lands, lawmakers argue that they could raise lease prices for oil and gas operations, bringing in enough revenue to cover the state's management costs. 'The policy of the state is to keep these lands open and available to the public,' Speaker Mike Schultz, a Republican, told Stateline last month. O'Dea pointed to an economic analysis of what it would cost Montana to take over federal lands. The report found it would cost the state $8 billion over 20 years to take on wildfire management, deferred maintenance and mine reclamation. He noted that many Western states have sold off a majority of the 'trust lands' they were granted at statehood, undermining claims that a state takeover would leave lands in the public domain. While Lee's land sales proposal has gotten the biggest headlines, public land advocates are fighting a multifront battle against the Trump administration's moves to roll back the protected status of certain lands, slash environmental rules, and expand logging, mining and drilling operations. 'The approach is to throw as much as you can at the wall and see what sticks,' O'Dea said. 'There's only so much you can mobilize opposition to. There's a huge risk that some of these things could fly under the radar.' Some conservative states and industry groups say Trump is allowing federal lands to be used to their full economic potential. Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Republican, said his constituents are 'keenly aware of how the federal government's ownership of 60 percent of Alaska's lands can inhibit economic development and cause challenges for our communities.' Leshy noted that public lands have proven to be a popular cause, but Trump's cuts to the federal workforce could undermine public confidence that the federal government is capable of managing the land. 'if you make it terrible for long enough, maybe people say, 'The feds shouldn't be managing this, they do such a bad job,'' he said. Stateline reporter Alex Brown can be reached at abrown@ SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Before the shots rang out, nonviolence and unity defined ‘No Kings' protest
People take part in the 'No Kings' protest in Salt Lake City on Saturday, June 14, 2025. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch) For more than two hours, 10,000 protesters coalesced in their anger against President Donald Trump and his policies to march peacefully through scorching Salt Lake City streets Saturday. They had cheered organizers' urging for nonviolence and reveled in moments of unity as they walked, from appreciative honks from waiting cars to church bells ringing out for them as they passed St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral. Just before 8 p.m., gunshots sounded, sending the crowd scrambling. Police confirmed Sunday that an individual who they said was 'possibly part of the event's peacekeeping team' had spotted a man with a rifle approaching the marchers, and fired. That man, identified as 24-year-old Arturo Gamboa, sustained a minor gunshot wound and was later arrested and booked into jail for investigation of murder. An innocent bystander walking in the protest, Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, 39, was also shot. He died of his injuries Saturday night. A long list of questions remains. But up until that moment, the message of the event had been the same as protests happening in cities large and small around the country, part of a nationwide declaration of defiance of Trump coinciding with a large-scale military parade in Washington, D.C. marking the Army's 250th anniversary, a date that was also the president's 79th birthday. The Salt Lake City demonstration was the last and largest of 11 planned protests across the state Saturday, including a demonstration that drew thousands more to the University of Utah that morning. Speaking to reporters on a dark Salt Lake City street about two hours after the shooting, the city's police chief and mayor both praised the protesters for exercising their rights peacefully and without incident. 'We had thousands of people come out today, not only in Salt Lake City, but in protests around the state, protests around this nation, and they were, by and large, peaceful demonstrations,' Mayor Erin Mendenhall said. 'We are a nation that needs our First Amendment right. We deserve to be able to protest in peace. And what happened today, I hope, will not silence the voices of the public who deserve to have their voices heard.' Protesters' chants included 'This is what democracy looks like,' 'Trump is a felon,' and 'No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here.' There were also some unflattering shoutouts to elected Utah officials including Sen. Mike Lee, Rep. Celeste Maloy, Gov. Spencer Cox and state Rep. Trevor Lee. Despite Utah's unquestioned status as a red haven, with Republicans consistently holding the governor's office, all of the state's congressional seats and a supermajority in the Legislature, Utahns who disagree with Trump's politics have been making their voices heard in growing numbers since the president began his second term, including earlier in the week. Some protesters, like Ogden sisters Kimberly and Heidi Cruzatt, marched on behalf of those concerned about demonstrating publicly. They wore scrubs, a symbol of their Peruvian parents' work as CNAs. 'I believe it's not safe for them, and they have a family at home to take care of, so I don't want to risk them any harm being here,' said Heidi Cruzatt. Kimberly Cruzatt carried a poster styled after the broadway hit 'Hamilton' logo, including the line 'Immigrants, we get the job done.' 'It's about Alexander Hamilton, but since he's an immigrant, he's decided, 'OK, I think everybody who has come from different countries has collaborated in the community,'' she explained. Not far from the sisters was Rachel Blackmer, of Taylorsville, who teaches English to adult immigrants and trains foster parents to care for refugee teenagers. In the center of the sign she carried above her head, Blackmer drew a heart with words 'Protect the immigrants I love' inside, and dozens of names of her students appearing around it. 'Everyone I care about is being threatened right now. My students tell me about how scared they are, and they carry their ID with them, but that isn't even good enough. They're still scared, and I'm really excited to show them my sign and show them their names on it and why I'm here,' Blackmer said. Looking at the sea of people around her, Blackmer said she hopes the scale of the recent protests will spur change, comparing it to the height of Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. 'I'm really hoping that our country will respond even more than they did back then, this will be even bigger, and more people will respond,' she said. Why protest? 'They work,' she said.
Yahoo
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘Peacekeeper' involved in shooting at SLC ‘No Kings' protest is a military veteran, organizers say
People take cover after gunshots rang out during the 'No Kings' protest in Salt Lake City on Saturday, June 14, 2025. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch) As questions continue to circle around the 'peacekeepers' acting as armed security at the 'No Kings' protest in Salt Lake City on Saturday, when police say a man inadvertently shot and killed a bystander, protest organizers issued a statement Tuesday saying the 'safety volunteer' who was involved is a 'military veteran.' 'During the protest an individual was spotted holding an AR-15 style weapon,' organizers with Utah 50501 said in the prepared statement provided to Utah News Dispatch on Tuesday. 'Our team of safety volunteers, who have been selected because of their military, first responder, and other relevant de-escalation experience, believed that there was an imminent threat to the protesters and took action.' Utah 50501 is a state chapter of the 50501 Movement, a grassroots group that organizes rallies to protest actions by President Donald Trump and his administration. According to Salt Lake City police, the shooting happened after two men described as 'peacekeepers' confronted another man, 24-year-old Arturo Gamboa, who was carrying an AR-15 style rifle. One of the men, reportedly part of the event's security team, fired three shots from a handgun, grazing Gamboa but also hitting an 'innocent bystander,' Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, who was pronounced dead at a hospital. Beloved Utah fashion designer's friends remember his life and his last moments Shortly after the shooting, police arrested Gamboa, and he was booked into jail for investigation of murder. Police say, however, that Gamboa did not fire his rifle. The two 'peacekeepers,' who wore high-visability vests, were initially detained by police, but were released after being questioned. Police said the man who fired the three shots is cooperating with investigators. 'The safety volunteer who responded to the individual (holding the rifle) and who was questioned by police is a military veteran,' the Utah 50501 statement said. 'The person currently in custody was apprehended thanks to a protester who saw the rifle and brought it to police attention.' In the statement, Utah 50501 organizers also expressed 'profound heartbreak' for the death of Ah Loo. 'We are mourning Afa Ah Loo with everything we have, and we are holding his family and friends in our hearts,' the statement said. 'Afa's name, courage, and commitment to his people will never be forgotten. We express our dearest and deepest sympathy to all those who knew and loved him.' The protests' organizers also noted the investigation into the shooting is 'still currently ongoing. At this time SLCPD has not chosen to charge any of the volunteers.' Salt Lake City police are investigating the shooting, but the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office will ultimately decide charges. As of Tuesday, no charges had been filed against Gamboa or anyone else involved in the shooting. The Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office has declined to say whether prosecutors are considering filing any charges against the 'peacekeepers' who were involved in the shooting. Man dies after being shot in chaotic scene at Salt Lake City's 'No Kings' protest 'This continues to be an active investigation by the SLCPD that is yet to be screened by our office, which is not uncommon or of concern as we remain so early into the criminal inquiry,' Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said in a prepared statement issued Tuesday. 'When the gathered evidence is presented to our office and homicide team, we will have a better understanding of facts, evidence and any chargeable decision,' Gill continued. 'Until then any conjecture would be purely speculative, inaccurate and inappropriate.' Gill urged Utahns to 'be patient and let law enforcement finish their work.' He also asked anyone 'who may have evidence or may be witnesses to contact and share that information with the SLCPD.' He referred to a link to the Salt Lake City Police Department's website, where evidence can be submitted online. In the days following the chaotic shooting, unanswered questions remain, including more details of who the 'peacekeepers' were and how they were vetted to be acting as armed security. Questions also remain regarding Gamboa's intentions and why he brought a rifle to the protest. As Utahns grieve Ah Loo's death, some have applauded actions by the 'peacekeepers' to prevent what could have been a mass shooting, while others have questioned whether the armed man who shot at Gamboa and inadvertently fatally struck Ah Loo acted appropriately. The Utah 50501 statement provided Tuesday offered a bit more information about who the protest's organizers said served as 'safety volunteers,' including that the people selected had 'military, first responder, and other relevant de-escalation experience,' and that the man involved was a 'military veteran.' However, other questions remain unanswered, including the ages of the two 'peacekeepers' that were involved in the shooting, how they were vetted, and how many of them present at the protest were armed. The Utah News Dispatch on Monday sent emails to both national and local organizers asking those questions and others. On Tuesday, Utah organizers pointed to the prepared statement and declined to provide interviews at this time. 'The organizers genuinely want to engage with the public but we have to balance the public's need for transparency with the participant's legal and psychological health,' the organizers said in an email. Utah 50501 organizers have drawn some criticism over the shooting, including from other local activist groups. The group Armed Queers SLC, which describes itself as an 'LGBTQ organization dedicated to the defense, and success, of oppressed people's movements,' posted a statement on its Instagram story saying 'we are still shocked at how the events unraveled' at the protest. 'Armed Queers takes gun ownership and its use for defense of our communities very seriously, and reject the way this situation was handled,' the group said. 'This event resulted in a direct loss of life that could have been avoided, and other measures should have been in place for proper de-escalation before openly shooting into a vulnerable crowd.' Armed Queers, the statement said, 'had no involvement in the planning' of Salt Lake City's 'No Kings' protest, adding that though some members attended, 'Armed Queers was given very little information about this event or our role in it.' 'We were asked to work as extra members of 50501's de-escalation team 2 days before the event,' their statement added. 'We agreed to participate because the organizers were concerned about agitators, but we were given very few details and transparency about the de-escalation plan.' The group said its members 'worked as a 'secondary de-escalation' team, and had no real interaction with agitators, or coordination with the event organizers while fulfilling that role.' It noted that no Armed Queers members were wearing high-visability vests, and no Armed Queers were 'part of any escalation of events.' 'One of Armed Queers' founding principles is 'The abolition of prisons and police as they serve as nothing but tools of capitalist oppression.' We completely reject any collaboration with the police or efforts by the state to celebrate certain protest movements, while repressing others,' the Armed Queers statement added. 'We were only made aware of any information being shared with the police when public videos had surfaced of 50501's team.' The group added that they grieve 'the killing of Afa Ah Loo. His life was unjustly cut short, and our hearts are with his family and his community.' Organizers with the national 50501 Movement have said they discourage people from bringing firearms to protests. 'In the face of this heartbreaking situation, we would like to affirm our commitment to nonviolence and to our non-negotiable prohibition of firearms policy for anyone representing 50501 at any of our actions or events,' organizers with the national 50501 Movement said in a Facebook post Monday. 'It is clear we do not have a complete understanding of what happened yet. What is certain is that, if no guns were present at the protest, this tragedy would have been prevented altogether.' Utah, however, is a 'constitutional carry' state, which means its laws allow the open and concealed carrying of firearms without a permit for those who are legally allowed to possess them. In 2021, with HB60, the Republican-controlled Utah Legislature eliminated the state's concealed carry permit requirements. Now, anyone 21 and over who can legally possess a gun is free to carry it loaded and hidden in public. Unlike 26 other states, Utah has not adopted a law prohibiting carrying long guns at state capitols or political protests, according to Everytown Research & Policy, an organization that produces research on gun violence and advocates for gun violence prevention. The group has ranked Utah as No. 36 in the country for 'gun law strength.' Salt Lake City Police spokesperson Brent Weisberg said in a lengthy statement issued Monday that police are continuing to investigate the 'peacekeepers' involvement, as well as other aspects of the protest's organization and staffing. He said neither of the two men identified as 'peacekeepers' involved in the shooting were 'current or former members of law enforcement, including the Salt Lake City Police Department.' Police investigating 'peacekeepers' role in fatal shooting at 'No Kings' protest in Utah 'While Utah law governs when and how a person may carry and use a firearm, the lawfulness of any individual's possession or use depends on the specific facts and circumstances of each case,' Weisberg said. Weisberg said it 'remains unclear whether these individuals were hired by or volunteered for the event organizers, or acted on their own initiative.' He also noted that the term 'peacekeeper' does not 'represent any formal designation recognized by the Salt Lake City Police Department or the City,' and that there was 'no record in the event's permit indicating the presence of organized or armed security.' He said the 'peacekeeping' term was how the volunteer questioned by police 'self-identified.' 'While the Salt Lake City Police Department was aware that Saturday's demonstration would include people in support roles, such as those helping to marshal or guide the crowd, these functions are entirely internal to the event,' Weisberg said. 'They are not overseen, sanctioned, or trained by the Salt Lake City Police Department. From the department's standpoint, these persons are considered members of the public, subject to the same rights and responsibilities as any other person in Utah.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
19-06-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Supreme Court sides with Utah in air quality lawsuit
Air thick with particulate pollution and fog hangs over Salt Lake City on Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. The AQI at the time was listed at 130 according to and the National Weather Service had issued a dense fog advisory. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch) The U.S. Supreme Court sided with Utah and Oklahoma on Wednesday in a case that started over disagreements with the Clean Air Act, and evolved into a debate over where certain lawsuits could be heard. The high court issued a unanimous opinion in Oklahoma v. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday, ruling that local courts can hear objections to federal air quality laws, rather than defer to courts in Washington D.C. The case stems from a 2015 decision by the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, that made air quality standards for ozone more strict. Ozone pollution happens when nitrogen oxides react with volatile organic compounds, often called VOCs, according to the EPA. Essentially, when pollutants from cars, refineries, boilers and other sources of emissions react to sunlight and hot temperatures, ground-level ozone forms. Ozone pollution can be common in Utah, especially during summer months. It's been linked to a number of health issues, causing respiratory problems and even intellectual disabilities, according to a recent study from the University of Utah. States were required to submit plans outlining their compliance with the new ozone standards, which included how they would adhere to the Clean Air Act's 'good neighbor' provision — essentially, how the state would try to reign in emissions that might impact air quality in other states. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The EPA rejected plans put forward by 21 states, including Utah and Oklahoma, which sued the agency in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Colorado. But the EPA argued the lawsuits should be heard in a Washington D.C. Circuit Court, since its rule disapproving of the state air quality plans constituted a 'single, nationally applicable action.' The Colorado court complied — but Utah and Oklahoma disagreed, instead taking the issue of jurisdiction to the Supreme Court. And in Wednesday's opinion, written by Justice Clarence Thomas, the court agreed, handing the case back to the 10th Circuit in Colorado. 'These two disapprovals are undisputedly locally or regionally applicable actions. A (state implementation plan) is a state-specific plan, so an EPA disapproval on its face applies only to the State that proposed the (state implementation plan),' Thomas wrote. In a statement, Utah Attorney General Derek Brown celebrated the ruling, describing it as a win for Utah. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE 'The Court agreed with Utah's argument involving the Clean Air Act that local courts should handle local issues, and the federal government should collaborate with the states — not ignore their unique differences,' Brown said. 'We are also grateful to the Trump Administration's EPA for reconsidering its ruling that required litigation in the first place, and look forward to our continued partnership on behalf of Utah.' In March, the Trump administration announced it would reconsider the good neighbor provision, calling it 'troubled.' The EPA said it would work with states whose implementation plans were initially rejected by the Biden administration's EPA, including Utah. Justice Samuel Alito did not take part in the decision. According to SCOTUSblog, Alito owns stock in a company that was also challenging the EPA's good neighbor provision.
