Wyoming Joins 23 States In Anti-Energy Lawsuit

Wyoming has joined 23 states challenging Vermont's new "Climate Superfund Act."

The states are claiming that the law unconstitutionally penalizes consumers and energy companies.

Add this to the list of lawsuits against states with "ideologically motivated" climate change policies.

These lawsuits were filed against Hawaii, Michigan, Vermont, and New York.

The claim is that Vermont's law amounts to a retroactive and extraterritorial "shakedown" that violates multiple provisions of the U.S. Constitution and federal environmental law, an argument similar to the federal suits.

States on the plaintiffs side include energy-producers such as Texas, West Virginia, Louisiana, and Alaska, as well as a host of others across the South, Midwest, and Mountain West, including Wyoming.

Vermont is accused of usurping federal authority and unilaterally setting national climate policy by imposing potentially billions of dollars in liability on oil, gas, and coal companies, many of which have no direct ties to Vermont.

"This is a case about a single state attempting to dictate energy and economic policy for the entire nation," the complaint states. "Vermont's law threatens to drive up energy prices for Americans across the country and could force producers to shutter their operations altogether."

 

The Climate Superfund Act was signed into law in early 2025. It authorizes Vermont to seek compensation from "fossil fuel" companies for climate-related damages sustained in the state between 1995 and 2024.

The act is modeled on the federal Superfund law that holds polluters liable for toxic waste cleanup.

But the Vermont law goes further by retroactively targeting so-called "greenhouse gas emissions."

The lawsuit charges these four states with the same five violations.

"Congress — not Vermont — has the authority to set uniform national standards," the complaint states, quoting a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that limited EPA authority but reaffirmed the primacy of federal policymaking in energy regulation.

Beyond federalism concerns, the states claim the law imposes unconstitutional retroactive penalties, violates due process and equal protection rights, and amounts to an excessive fine under the Eighth Amendment.

They also allege the law discriminates against out-of-state energy companies while sparing Vermont's polluters.

"Vermont can't have its cake and eat it too," the lawsuit says. "It benefited from affordable and reliable fossil fuels for decades. Now, it seeks to penalize the very producers who made that possible."

The American Petroleum Institute described laws like Vermont's as

"not only an attack on the companies that provide Americans with affordable and reliable energy,"

As well as,

"an unconstitutional affront to the federal government's role" in setting climate and energy policy.