Right seizes Trump playbook to blame migrants for environmental harm

Arizona's attorney general has filed a lawsuit framing the climate crisis as a nativist issue as the evident impacts of global heating make denial less viable

Joe Biden has sought to spur an expansion in renewable energy and electric vehicles since entering the White House but his climate agenda has also stirred something wholly unintended - a surge in blame foisted upon migrants for environmental degradation.

An unusual lawsuit filed last month by Mark Brnovich, Arizona's attorney general, is indicative of a growing nativist framing of the climate crisis, according to academics. In the lawsuit, Brnovich, a Republican, demands the reinstatement of Donald Trump's immigration policies to help remedy the pollution and stress on natural resources" caused by migrants who move to the US.