Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond says he joined a 24-state coalition challenging Vermont’s Climate Superfund Act because he considered it a “direct attack on Oklahoma’s energy producers and the thousands of hardworking Oklahomans employed in this critical industry.”
As reported earlier this week by OK Energy Today, West Virginia Attorney General J.B. McCuskey led the coalition of states, claiming the Vermont law enacted last year imposing fines on fossil fuel producers for the greenhouse gas emissions over a 30-year period violates the U.S. Constitution.
The lawsuit challenging Vermont’s Act was filed late last week and Drummond issued a statement on Tuesday.
“This unconstitutional overreach not only threatens our state’s economic foundation but also risks driving energy production to countries like China, India and Russia where environmental standards are far less stringent. I will always defend Oklahoma’s energy sector against harmful and misguided policies.”
The Vermont law targets coal, oil and natural gas suppliers for global greenhouse gas emissions from 1995 to 2024 — a period when these companies were following state and federal regulations. The Act has no cap, so the fines levied against decades of past energy production could be in the billions.
The coalition’s lawsuit aligns with action taken by the U.S. Department of Justice, which filed its own challenge to Vermont’s law, delivering on President Trump’s promise to provide federal reinforcement to states fighting these types of superfund laws.
The coalition is asking the court to, among other things, issue an injunction and declare the Act preempted by federal statutes.
Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming are seeking to join the lawsuit.