Oklahoma Corporation Commissioners voted unanimously this week to lend their support to a lawsuit against Vermont by State Attorney General Genter Drummond.
The vote was 3-0 Tuesday as Commissioner Brian Bingman agreed that Vermont’s Climate Superfund Act would have an “adverse effect in Oklahoma” and added it would be “a positive sign to participate” in the lawsuit.
As part of the vote, some commission staff will also offer support in the litigation by the attorney general.
It was in early May when Drummond joined 23 other attorneys general in challenging the Vermont law that was enacted in 2024 and imposes fines on fossil fuel producers for the greenhouse gas emissions caused over a 30-year period.
“The State of Vermont believes it can seize control over the makeup of America’s energy industry. Vermont has attempted to impose what could potentially amount to billions of dollars of liability on energy producers disfavored by certain politicians,” they charged in the lawsuit.
Oklahoma and the other states along with the American Petroleum Institute and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce contend the law violates the U.S. constitution.
“Vermont’s Climate Superfund Act provides an example of the chaos that can result when States step outside the bounds of their proper jurisdiction. It imposes self-described retroactive fines on traditional energy producers for their purported past contributions to greenhouse-gas emissions, which were lawful operations endorsed and even promoted by both federal and State authorities,” the lawsuit charged.
The challenge was led by West Virginia Attorney General J.B. McCuskey.
“This shakedown of the companies who built America is unfathomable, unconstitutional and a slap in the face to all of the hardworking men and women who built this country and continue working to keep the lights on,” he said in announcing the suit last May.
“The Commerce Clause is hardly the only problem with the Climate Superfund Act. Quite the opposite: the Act violates the U.S. Constitution, federal law, and the Vermont Constitution
for a variety of reasons,” stated the lawsuit. The legal challenge contends Vermont is preempted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Clean Air Act from regulating greenhouse gas emissions.
“Our coalition stood up to New York to stop this madness and we have once again joined forces to stand up to Vermont to ensure America’s energy independence and to protect consumers nationwide,” McCuskey said.