Washington DC - President administration announced on Thursday that it will sue four Democrat-run US states for pursuing lawsuits against major polluters in the fossil fuel industry.
The Trump administration is suing four US states for pursuing lawsuits against the fossil fuel industry. © AFP/Saul Loeb
The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed legal complaints against the states of Hawaii, Michigan, New York, and Vermont over what they called "unlawful state actions" in an attempt to stop states from suing fossil fuel companies.
New York and Vermont's "superfund" laws are designed to fund infrastructure projects and other government initiatives by re-appropriating some of the profits of big polluters.
Hawaii and Michigan are being sued by the DOJ specifically to stop them from lodging their own lawsuits against major oil companies.
"These burdensome and ideologically motivated laws and lawsuits threaten American energy independence and our country’s economic and national security," said Attorney General Pamela Bondi in.
"The Department of Justice is working to ‘Unleash American Energy’ by stopping these illegitimate impediments to the production of affordable, reliable energy that Americans deserve."
Bondi and the DOJ allege that climate superfund laws "impose strict liability on energy companies" in a way that puts the burden on energy production and forces Americans "to pay more for energy, and make the United States less able to defend itself from hostile foreign actors."
Despite the DOJ suit, Hawaii moved ahead with its lawsuit on Thursday, lodging a case against companies including BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Shell.
"Defendants perpetrated a decades-long campaign of deception with a singular aim," , claiming that fossil fuel companies tried to "deceive consumers and the public about the harms of their fossil fuel products."
"These consequences have and will continue to disproportionately impact Hawaii’s frontline communities, as climate change exacerbates existing environmental and public health stressors."
