CHEYENNE, Wyo. – This morning, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order related to the Wyoming coal port original action case filed in January.
The Court invited the acting Solicitor General to file a brief expressing the views of the United States. Governor Gordon has issued the following statement in response to the order:
It is encouraging that the Supreme Court is a step closer to taking up our Commerce Clause question against Washington State for inappropriately using the Clean Water Act to block our access to overseas markets. This issue is extremely important to Wyoming and Montana, and it appears members of the Supreme Court recognize the significant Constitutional issue of one State’s actions preventing another State from shipping a product, in this case coal, to willing markets. It is an issue as old as our country. We believe it is logical and appropriate that the Court should seek input from the Solicitor General before deciding such an important question.
Wyoming and Montana will be coordinating our efforts to educate the Solicitor General about this case in the near future. I am optimistic that the Solicitor General will agree that this case should be heard by the Supreme Court.