CHARLESTON, W.Va – West Virginia Attorney General J.B. McCuskey says the New York court ruling denying proposed restrictions on energy producers is a win for the Mountain State’s stability.
The U.S. District Court for Northern New York ruled in favor of West Virginia’s contest of the Climate Change Superfund Act on Monday. McCuskey believes that ruling will head off similar efforts to fine energy producers around the country.
“The more important thing here is one: stopping New York’s unconstitutional and illegal power and money grab, but two is to prevent the 17 other states that had similarly situated laws waiting to be passed were we to lose this case,” he said Tuesday on MetroNews Talkline.
According to McCuskey, the New York law would have resulted in $75 billion in fines imposed on energy companies. He fears what that could have done multiplied out over 17 more states.
“It starts looking like hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars that would cripple the energy industry, put coal miners and gas workers out of work, and make, eventually, America a less secure place to live,” McCuskey said.
McCuskey filed the lawsuit in February 2025, with arguments taking place in July. Judge Brenda Sannes’ ruling on Monday called the Climate Change Superfund Act “simply beyond the limits of state law.”
“Congress passed the Clean Air Act and said the way in which these emissions are regulated happens on a federal level and not a state level, so the judge ruled that the Clean Air Act preempts this law and that this law is unlawful,” McCuskey said.
An appeal is expected in the case, but McCuskey believes the state of New York will have little success. He considers the Climate Change Superfund Act to be an attempt at circumventing an issue the courts already ruled on.
“This was New York’s legislature’s way of trying to get back around what was clear 2nd Circuit precedent and snatch the same money under the exact same theory by using the legislature as a judge and jury,” McCuskey said.
The state attorney general’s office is contesting a similar law passed in Vermont.