Marty Jackley A G
CLI LAWSUITS?
---
guk ref 404 ag
5 pp ltr to bondi
2025.06.12%20--%20Letter%20to%20Dep%27t%20of%20Justice%20on%20Energy%20Actions
Dear Attorney General Bondi:
We, the undersigned Attorneys General, write to applaud the Department of Justice’s recent
actions to curtail the climate lawfare that has intensified our Nation’s energy crisis.
The energy industry is foundational to American flourishing. President Trump rightly
observed that our Nation “is blessed with an abundance of energy and natural resources that
historically powered our Nation’s economic prosperity.”1 The industry has created millions of
American jobs and annually generates billions of dollars in tax revenue. This money supports
schools, hospitals, and public infrastructure; it also helps ensure that everything from electricity to
transportation to consumer goods remains both available and affordable for all Americans.
Altogether, “[t]he development of domestic energy resources is of paramount public interest.”2
And traditional energy resources like “oil, natural gas, and coal provide 80% of American
energy.”3
President Trump’s recent Executive Orders recognize just how important the energy
industry is to American success. The President noted that the “burdensome and ideologically
motivated ‘climate change’ [and] energy policies” enacted by some States “weaken our national
security and devastate Americans by driving up energy costs for families coast-to-coast, despite
1 Unleashing American Energy, Exec. Order No. 14154, 90 Fed. Reg. 8353, 8353 (Jan. 29, 2025).
2 U.S. Dep’t of Energy, The Economic Benefits of Oil & Gas (2025), https://perma.cc/7R3GTZCP.
3 Nat. Res. Def. Council v. Kempthorne, 525 F. Supp. 2d 115, 127 (D.D.C. 2007).
...3
Unfortunately, the United States Supreme Court has declined up to this point to tackle these
modern-day climate lawsuits and anti-energy state laws head on. For instance, the Court has
recently denied petitions asking the Court to consider whether these state-law-based claims against
energy companies belong in federal court (as they undoubtedly do). Our own efforts before that
Court to protect the interests of our citizens in a strong American energy industry have largely been
rebuffed.14 Thus, we expect that only legislative and executive actions can provide real answers to
these continuing problems.
We therefore write to suggest additional steps the Department could take to effectuate the
President’s Executive Orders and assist our States in continuing the fight against anti-energy
interests. In particular, the Department could recommend legislation that would:
11 E.g., Patrick Brown, How Much Did Increasing “Climate Whiplash” Impact the Los Angeles
Fires?, Breakthrough Inst. (Jan. 29, 2025), https://perma.cc/UEH2-LYF9.
12 Climate Change Superfund Act, N.Y. S.2129-B, 2023–24 Session; Climate Superfund Act, Vt.
S.259, 2023–24 Session.
13 City of San Francisco v. Exxon Mobil Corp., No. 02-18-00106-CV, 2020 WL 3969558, at *20
(Tex. App. June 18, 2020).
14 E.g., Alabama v. California, 145 S. Ct. 757 (Mar. 10, 2025).
p2 notes
4 Protecting American Energy From State Overreach, Exec. Order 14260, 90 Fed. Reg. 15513,
15513 (Apr. 8, 2025).
5 Id. at 15513–14.
6 Ibid.
7 Press Release, U.S. Dep’t of Just., Justice Department Files Complaints Against Hawaii,
Michigan, New York and Vermont Over Unconstitutional State Climate Actions (May 1, 2025),
https://perma.cc/HSZ7-GK4H.
8 Press Release, U.S. Dep’t of Just., Justice Department Launches Anticompetitive Regulations
Task Force (Mar. 27, 2025), https://perma.cc/XGR5-EJYH.
9 E.g., S. Comm. On Com., Sci., & Transp. And H.R. Comm. on Oversight & Accountability,
Republican Staff, Report, Investigation into Sher Edling, LLP (Oct. 7, 2024),
https://perma.cc/4YNQ-GQXE.
10 Am. Energy Inst., The Environmental Law Institute’s Climate Judiciary Project (CJP) Is
Corruptly Influencing the Courts and Destroying the Rule of Law to Promote Questionable
Climate Science (2024), https://perma.cc/8TJT-JNZD.
These protective measures could complement other initiatives that could affirmatively
strengthen our American energy industry. Among other things, Congress and the Administration
could streamline required permitting for energy-related facilities (including related environmental
assessment requirements), extend current grant and tax-incentive programs limited to so-called
“green” energy to domestic energy producers, and continue peeling back anti-energy regulations
:{:{from past administrations.}:
Measures like these could be expected to re-empower American}:
industry, better enabling it to fend off unjustified attacks like that seen in recent years.
We unhesitatingly support President Trump’s goals to “restore American prosperity” and
“rebuild our Nation’s economic and military security” by unleashing American energy, and his
commitment to protecting American energy from state overreach. Ending the unlawful assault on
American energy is critical to achieving those objectives. We commend the Department for already
taking action to stop climate lawfare and hope that you will consider our suggestions to further
bolster your efforts.
Sincerely,
Mike Hilgers John B. McCuskey
Nebraska Attorney General West Virginia Attorney General
Steve Marshall Tim Griffin
Alabama Attorney General Arkansas Attorney General
James Uthmeier Chris Carr
Florida Attorney General Georgia Attorney General
Brenna Bird Kris Kobach
Iowa Attorney General Kansas Attorney General
Russell Coleman
Austin Knudsen
Kentucky Attorney General Montana Attorney General
Drew Wrigley Dave Yost
North Dakota Attorney General Ohio Attorney General
Ken Paxton Alan Wilson
Texas Attorney General South Carolina A
marty Jackley
South Dakota Attorney General
Ryan Schelhaas
Interim Wyoming Attorney General
---