The Justice Department filed lawsuits against four states over climate change actions that the Trump administration says conflict with federal authority. The DOJ sued Michigan and Hawaii over planned legal action against fossil fuel companies for alleged harms caused by fictional climate change. In addition, the DOJ filed lawsuits against New York and Vermont over ‘climate superfund laws’ to force fossil fuel companies to pay into state-based funds on prior greenhouse gas emissions. Trump administration sues four Democratic-led states to block climate laws, lawsuits. Subscribe to The Daily Docket: https://t.co/OB2TytgES6 pic.twitter.com/ZPsJyiuoVG — Reuters Legal (@ReutersLegal) May 2, 2025 From the New York Post: The DOJ lawsuits, which legal experts say are 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 climate action without federal opposition. DOJ’s court filings said the states’ plans and policies “impermissibly regulate out-of-state greenhouse gas emissions and obstruct the Clean Air Act’s comprehensive federal-state framework and EPA’s regulatory discretion.” The DOJ cited the Clean Air Act — a federal law authorizing the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate air emissions — saying it 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.” DOJ argued Wednesday that Hawaii and Michigan are violating the intent of the Act that enables the EPA authority to set nationwide standards for greenhouse gases, citing the states’ expected litigation against oil and gas companies for alleged climate damage. 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 climate and environment. Meanwhile, Democratic Hawaii Governor Josh Green plans to target fossil fuel companies that he said should take responsibility for their role in the state’s climate impacts, including 2023’s deadly Lahaina wildfire. “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, according to the Associated Press. DOJ sues four blue states over 'unconstitutional' climate laws threatening US energy security https://t.co/IeQyFXPY9w — Fox News (@FoxNews) May 2, 2025 DOJ Sues Hawaii, Michigan, Vermont, and New York Over Climate Lawshttps://t.co/Am8ZvF7i1d — The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) May 2, 2025 From the Associated Press: Spokespeople for Democratic Hawaii Gov. Josh Green and Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez confirmed the state filed its lawsuit against seven groups of affiliated fossil fuel companies and the oil and gas trade association, the American Petroleum Institute, Thursday, alleging harm to public trust resources, negligence and more. Green said he is targeting fossil fuel companies that should take responsibility for their role in the state’s climate impacts, including 2023’s deadly Lahaina wildfire. “This lawsuit is about holding those parties accountable, shifting the costs of surviving the climate crisis back where they belong, and protecting Hawaii citizens into the future,” he said in a statement. 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 climate and environment. “This lawsuit is at best frivolous and arguably sanctionable,” Nessel said in a statement Thursday. Nessel noted that Michigan hasn’t yet filed its lawsuit, but confirmed her intent to, and said the White House and the oil industry “will not succeed in any attempt to preemptively bar our access to make our claims in the courts.” A spokesperson for Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s office deferred to Nessel when asked for comment. 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.