12 States Sue Biden Over Climate Change Order
President Joe Biden speaks from the State Dining Room following the passage of the American Rescue Plan in the U.S. Senate at the White House on March 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. The Senate passed the bill 50-49 which will go back to the House for a final vote. Samuel Corum/Getty Images

Even during his campaign, President Joe Biden has vowed to address the ever-present climate change through various actions, which include banning drilling and revoking permits for oil pipelines.

Biden signed Executive Order 13990 on his first day in office, which makes his first order in response to the climate change crisis. However, this caused some 12 Republican states to file a lawsuit against Biden for his first executive order, claiming that he does not have the constitutional authority to implement new policies about greenhouse gases, according to a USA Today report.

Republican Attorney General Eric Schmitt is leading the federal lawsuit against the president. Schmitt, who is from Missouri, alleged Biden of violating the separation of powers clause in the Constitution.

The attorney general argued that Congress has the power to regulate, adding that the legislative action falls to the Congress' exclusive authority.

The 12 states further noted that the executive order has an economic impact on the affected states.

"If the Executive Order stands, it will inflict hundreds of billions or trillions of dollars of damage to the U.S. economy for decades to come," according to the lawsuit.

Executive Order 13990

Biden's Executive Order 13990, also known as "Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis, orders the Interior Secretary to place a temporary moratorium on all activities connected to the implementation of the "Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge."

It also orders the Secretary to review the program and conduct a new analysis of its environmental impacts. It also reinstates former President Barrack Obama's executive order that withdrew certain offshore areas in Arctic waters and the Bering Sea from oil and gas drilling and created the Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area.

These areas will no longer be available for consideration for future oil or gas leasing, according to a National Review report.

It also revokes the Presidential permit awarded to TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, L.P. for the construction and operation of the Keystone XL Pipeline.

States Involved in the 'Climate Change' Lawsuit

Meanwhile, the lawsuit was filed by Republican state attorneys general from Arkansas, Arizona, Indiana, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, and Tennessee.

These states claimed in their lawsuit that the executive order would destroy jobs, hinder energy production, and overall affect America's energy independence.

The states further claimed that this would suppress agriculture, affect working families, and slow down innovation, Washington Examiner reported.

The complaint asked the court to release an order that blocks federal agencies from using the "social cost" estimates and to declare they are contrary to the law, among other relief.

During the Obama administration, most Republican states have also stopped the former president from implementing its Clean Power Plan.

Biden also signed other climate change measures such as EO 14008, also known as "Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad."

The measure will address federal mineral leasing, fossil fuel subsidies, land conservation and create a number of Energy and Environmental Policy Councils.

WATCH: Biden signs executive order on climate change - from ABC News