Colorado governor questions attorney general’s clean air suit

Gov. John Hickenlooper says he will ask the Colorado Supreme Court whether it was legal for the state attorney general to sue the federal government over new air pollution rules.

Hickenlooper supports the rules and is trying to implement them.

Hickenlooper told The Denver Post Monday he should have had the final say on whether Attorney General Cynthia Coffman joined 23 other states in suing the Environmental Protection Agency.

Coffman says the rules are an illegal overreach by the EPA. She has said the lawsuit doesn’t keep Hickenlooper from preparing to implement the regulations.

Coffman says she has the right to file lawsuits on behalf of the state.

Colorado’s attorney general is elected, not appointed by the governor. Coffman is a Republican and Hickenlooper is a Democrat.