Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healy

A coalition of government officials sent a letter on Wednesday to President-elect Donald Trump urging that he continue the federal government’s defense of the Clean Power Plan, according to Attorney General Maura Healey, whose signature is among the 19 present on the letter.

Other signees include attorneys general of New York, California, Hawaii, Iowa, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and the District of Columbia, along with local government officials in Boulder, Colorado, New York City, Broward County, Florida and South Miami, Florida.

Signees describe their states and local governments as “on the front lines of climate change as their residents and businesses are already experiencing harms from climate change, such as flooding from rising seas, increasingly severe storms, and prolonged droughts,” according to a statement from Healey’s office.

The letter also states that the Clean Power Plan builds on cost-effective strategies implemented by states and local governments, along with the power industry, to cut greenhouse gas emissions while at the same time creating jobs and growing local and state economies.

“The Clean Power Plan is a pivotal step toward reducing harmful carbon-dioxide emissions from power plants and has been essential to our national effort to address climate change,” Healey said in a statement. “For many years, Massachusetts and other states have been leaders in advancing a clean energy agenda, and it is critical that the federal government continue to be a partner in that effort.”

The letter also asks the president-elect to reject the “misguided advice” of a group of states led by West Virginia that the president-elect discard the Clean Power Plan by taking action to withdraw the court case, noting that this move would “assuredly lead to more litigation.”