Last month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the Department of Justice (DOJ) to target state and local climate policies.
Trump stated, “Many States have enacted, or are in the process of enacting, burdensome and ideologically motivated “climate change” or energy policies that threaten American energy dominance and our economic and national security.”
In the executive order, New York and Vermont were listed as examples (via White House):
New York, for example, enacted a “climate change” extortion law that seeks to retroactively impose billions in fines (erroneously labelled “compensatory payments”) on traditional energy producers for their purported past contributions to greenhouse gas emissions not only in New York but also anywhere in the United States and the world. Vermont similarly extorts energy producers for alleged past contributions to greenhouse gas emissions anywhere in the United States or the globe.
Late last week, the Trump administration sued four Democratic-led states to block their climate change-related laws or lawsuits.
The states are Vermont, Michigan, Hawaii, and New York.
According to multiple reports, this is due to the states’ “climate Superfund” laws and to prevent them from pursuing claims against fossil fuel providers (via The Hill):
On Wednesday, the administration sued Michigan and Hawaii in an attempt to block them from suing fossil fuel companies over climate change.
On Thursday, it sued New York and Vermont over their “climate Superfund” laws — which require fossil fuel companies to pay for emissions stemming from their products.
In lawsuits filed Wednesday, the Justice Department asked federal courts to permanently prevent Michigan and Hawaii from pursuing claims against fossil fuel companies.
The administration argued that it’s up to the federal government — not states — to regulate climate pollution and that therefore these lawsuits are unconstitutional.
“These burdensome and ideologically motivated laws and lawsuits threaten American energy independence and our country’s economic and national security,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a written statement. “The Department of Justice is working to ‘Unleash American Energy’ by stopping these illegitimate impediments to the production of affordable, reliable energy that Americans deserve.”