Justice Department sues Hawaii, Michigan, Vermont and New York over state climate actions

DETROIT AP The U S Justice Department filed lawsuits against four states this week claiming their atmosphere actions conflict with federal authority and President Donald Trump s potency 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 environment change On Thursday the DOJ sued New York and Vermont challenging their environment 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 vigor independence and our country s economic and national measure Attorney General Pamela Bondi noted in a report noting the office hopes to stop these illegitimate impediments to the production of affordable reliable vigor that Americans deserve The DOJ lawsuits which legal experts called unprecedented mark the latest of the Trump administration s attacks on environmental work and raises concern over states abilities to retain the power to take context action without federal opposition DOJ s court filings revealed the states plans and policies violate the Clean Air Act a federal law authorizing the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate air emissions The DOJ argued the act creates a campaign for regulating air poisoning in the United States and displaces the ability of States to regulate greenhouse gas emissions beyond their borders It stated Wednesday that Hawaii and Michigan battling oil and gas companies for alleged weather damage does not align with EPA authority to set nationwide standards for greenhouse gases When burned fossil fuels release emissions such as carbon dioxide that warm the planet Spokespeople for Democratic Hawaii Governor Josh Green and Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez ratified the state filed its lawsuit against seven groups of affiliated fossil fuel companies and the American Petroleum Institute Thursday alleging harm to citizens trust guidance negligence and more Green commented he is targeting fossil fuel companies that should take responsibility for their role in the state s setting impacts including s deadly Lahaina wildfire This lawsuit is about holding those parties accountable shifting the costs of surviving the surroundings dilemma back where they belong and protecting Hawaii citizens into the future he explained in a comment Meanwhile Democratic Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel last year tapped private law firms to go after the fossil fuel industry for negatively affecting the state s weather and surroundings This lawsuit is at best frivolous and arguably sanctionable Nessel explained in a announcement Thursday Nessel noted that Michigan hasn t yet filed its lawsuit but proven her intent to and revealed the White House and the oil industry will not succeed in any attempt to preemptively bar our access to make our states in the courts A spokesperson for Democratic Michigan Gov Gretchen Whitmer s office deferred to Nessel when demanded for comment Meanwhile Thursday s filings called the states Superfund Acts modeled on the -year-old federal superfund law enacted to address the harm associated with hazardous waste sites a transparent monetary-extraction scheme Trump has suggested the superfund laws extort money from vitality entities New York is looking for billion and has been previously challenged by 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 regime authority A spokesperson for New York Gov Kathy Hochul a Democrat declared the governor believes corporate polluters should pay for the damage done to our habitat not everyday New Yorkers We will not back down not from Big Oil and not from federal overreach New York Attorney General Letitia James disclosed the state s conditions superfund law ensures that those who contributed to the state predicament help pay for the damage they caused Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark revealed she looked forward to representing Vermont in this event Vermont Gov Phil Scott s office did not at once respond to request for comment In its filings the DOJ repeated the Republican president s indicates of America s resource urgency and dilemma At a time when States should be contributing to a national effort to secure reliable sources of domestic power all four states are choosing to stand in the way all four filings stated But legal experts raised concern over the leadership s arguments Michael Gerrard founder and faculty director of the Columbia University Sabin Center for Context Change Law revealed it s typically the scenario that the DOJ asks a court to intervene in pending environmental litigation as is the situation in chosen instances across the country While this week s suits are consistent with Trump s plans to oppose state actions that interfere with potency dominance it s highly atypical Gerrard reported The Associated Press of the cases of Hawaii and Michigan What we expected is they would intervene in the pending lawsuits not to try to preempt or prevent a lawsuit from being filed It s an aggressive move in encouragement of the fossil fuel industry Ann Carlson an environmental law professor at the University of California Los Angeles who has previously consulted on state litigation declared this week s lawsuits look like DOJ grasping at straws noting that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin reported his agency is seeking to overturn a finding under the Clean Air Act that greenhouse gases endanger society robustness and welfare So on the one hand the U S is saying Michigan and other states can t regulate greenhouse gases because the Clean Air Act does so and therefore preempts states from regulating Carlson reported On the other hand the U S is trying to say that the Clean Air Act should not be used to regulate Trump s administration has aggressively targeted setting strategy in the name of fossil fuel assets Federal agencies have disclosed plans to bolster coal power roll back landmark water and air regulations block renewable potential sources and double down on oil and gas expansion Read more of AP s circumstances coverage at http www apnews com climate-and-environment Associated Press writers Isabella Volmert in Lansing Mich and Anthony Izaguirre in Albany N Y contributed to this summary Alexa St John is an Associated Press environment reporter Follow her on X alexa stjohn Reach her at ast john ap org The Associated Press atmosphere and environmental coverage receives financial sponsorship from multiple private foundations AP is solely responsible for all content Find AP s standards for working with philanthropies a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP org Source