New York’s effort to defend a state law that seeks payment from energy producers for the costs of climate change is getting a boost from two Senate Democrats.
Environment and Public Works ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) have filed a friend of the court brief, arguing that critics of the climate Superfund would improperly strip power away from states.
A coalition of Republican attorneys general filed suit against New York in February in federal court, arguing it is acting unconstitutionally by seeking to impose billions of dollars of costs each year on energy-producing states and companies. The Trump administration filed a separate lawsuit against the state in May, arguing the laws are preempted by the federal Clean Air Act.
But Whitehouse and Gillibrand argue states have the right to act and that Congress has never barred state laws seeking compensation for harms from past emissions.
