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The U.S. Justice Department filed lawsuits against four states this week, claiming their climate actions conflict with federal authority and President Donald Trump’senergy dominance agenda.
The DOJ on Wednesday filed lawsuits against Hawaii and Michigan over their plans for legal action against fossil fuel companies for harms caused by climate change. On Thursday, the DOJ sued New York and Vermont, challenging their climate superfund laws that would force fossil fuel companies to pay into state-based funds based on previous greenhouse gas emissions.
“These burdensome and ideologically motivated laws and lawsuits threaten American energy independence and our country’s economic and national security,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement, noting the office hopes to stop “these illegitimate impediments to the production of affordable, reliable energy that Americans deserve.”
The DOJ’s four filings said the state efforts undermine the federal government while “increasing energy costs and disrupting the national energy market.” It said the states’ plans and policies are unconstitutional, violate the federal foreign affairs power and are preempted by the Clean Air Act — a federal law authorizing the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate air emissions.
The DOJ argued the act “creates a program for regulating air pollution in the United States and ‘displaces’ the ability of States to regulate greenhouse gas emissions beyond their borders.”
It said Wednesday that Hawaii and Michigan battling oil and gas companies for alleged climate damage conflicts with EPA authority and obstructs the agency’s discretion to regulate greenhouse gases.
Thursday’s filings called the states’ Superfund Acts — modeled after the 45-year-old federal superfund law enacted to address the harm associated with hazardous waste sites — “a transparent monetary-extraction scheme.” Trump has said the superfund laws “extort” money from energy entities.
New York is looking for $75 billion and has been previously challenged by 22 states for its law; Vermont hasn’t specified its target amount. Both laws were approved last year.
The DOJ argued the states’ acts are also looking to regulate greenhouse gas emissions — nationwide and globally — violating federal government authority, along with discouraging “investment and innovation in the fossil fuel industry, further burdening interstate commerce.”
More at:
apnews.com
The DOJ on Wednesday filed lawsuits against Hawaii and Michigan over their plans for legal action against fossil fuel companies for harms caused by climate change. On Thursday, the DOJ sued New York and Vermont, challenging their climate superfund laws that would force fossil fuel companies to pay into state-based funds based on previous greenhouse gas emissions.
“These burdensome and ideologically motivated laws and lawsuits threaten American energy independence and our country’s economic and national security,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement, noting the office hopes to stop “these illegitimate impediments to the production of affordable, reliable energy that Americans deserve.”
The DOJ’s four filings said the state efforts undermine the federal government while “increasing energy costs and disrupting the national energy market.” It said the states’ plans and policies are unconstitutional, violate the federal foreign affairs power and are preempted by the Clean Air Act — a federal law authorizing the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate air emissions.
The DOJ argued the act “creates a program for regulating air pollution in the United States and ‘displaces’ the ability of States to regulate greenhouse gas emissions beyond their borders.”
It said Wednesday that Hawaii and Michigan battling oil and gas companies for alleged climate damage conflicts with EPA authority and obstructs the agency’s discretion to regulate greenhouse gases.
Thursday’s filings called the states’ Superfund Acts — modeled after the 45-year-old federal superfund law enacted to address the harm associated with hazardous waste sites — “a transparent monetary-extraction scheme.” Trump has said the superfund laws “extort” money from energy entities.
New York is looking for $75 billion and has been previously challenged by 22 states for its law; Vermont hasn’t specified its target amount. Both laws were approved last year.
The DOJ argued the states’ acts are also looking to regulate greenhouse gas emissions — nationwide and globally — violating federal government authority, along with discouraging “investment and innovation in the fossil fuel industry, further burdening interstate commerce.”
More at:
Code:
https://apnews.com/article/trump-doj-climate-states-policy-lawsuits-a5228e1dd6348f09d2a70f460142531aJustice Department sues Hawaii, Michigan, Vermont and New York over state climate actions
The Justice Department is suing four states over climate action. The office argued in filings Wednesday that a lawsuit out of Hawaii and pending litigation from Michigan against fossil fuel companies for harms caused by climate change would infringe on the federal government’s authority.
apnews.com
