The U.S. Justice Department is suing the states of New York, Vermont, Michigan, and Hawaii over state climate actions it described as unconstitutional.
The DOJ on Thursday filed complaints against the states of New York and Vermont over their “climate superfund laws.” In separate actions, the Justice Department also filed lawsuits against the states of Hawaii and Michigan to prevent each state from suing fossil fuel companies in state court to seek damages for alleged climate change harms.
Last year, the state of Vermont enacted a law that would take on oil companies to require them to pay for damage caused by their emissions, in a first such legislation in a U.S. state.
The state of New York passed a law to create a ‘Climate Superfund’ requiring large fossil fuel companies to pay for critical projects that protect New Yorkers. Under this law from December 2024, Big Oil could be on the hook to pay $75 billion over the next 25 years for damages to the climate.
This week’s DOJ lawsuits advance President Donald Trump’s directive in the executive order ‘Protecting American Energy from State Overreach.’
President Trump has recently directed Attorney General Pamela Bondi to take action “to stop the enforcement of state laws that unreasonably burden domestic energy development so that energy will once again be reliable and affordable for all Americans,” DOJ said.
In the case of Hawaii and Michigan, the government alleges that these states’ intention to sue fossil fuel companies for damages anticipated actions preempted by the Clean Air Act and violate the Constitution.
DOJ’s complaints also allege that the New York Climate Change Superfund Act and the Vermont Climate Superfund Act are preempted by the federal Clean Air Act and by the federal foreign affairs power, and that they violate the U.S. Constitution. The Justice Department seeks a declaration that these state laws are unconstitutional and an injunction against their enforcement.
“These burdensome and ideologically motivated laws and lawsuits threaten American energy independence and our country’s economic and national security,” AG Bondi said.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
