Jack Luellen Quoted in the Denver Gazette
April, 2024 - Los Angeles, California
Lawsuit against Denver and Colorado building energy standards draws fierce support, pushback
By: Scott Weiser
But Jack Luellen, energy and natural resources special counsel in the Denver office of Buchalter, said the plaintiffs in this case may have an uphill battle.
“In the case of the Denver regulations, the plaintiffs are claiming impossibility preemption,” said Luellen. “That is going to be a hard case in my opinion. Courts have been very strict in deciding impossibility. It must not simply be more difficult or more expensive to comply with both, but truly impossible.”
“The other argument from the plaintiffs attacks the intent of the state law, essentially calling the regulations a subterfuge to eliminate the use of natural gas in large buildings and to fulfill similar objectives,” Luellen said. “This will be a hard argument, as courts generally are reticent to find a malevolent motive in a state action and furthermore, even a motive not enunciated in the statute, would not render the law preempted or otherwise unenforceable.”
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