API Welcomes Department of Justice Action to Quash New York and Vermont “Superfund” Legislation

WASHINGTON, May 1, 2025 — The American Petroleum Institute (API) today issued the following statement from Senior Vice President and General Counsel Ryan Meyers after the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed complaints challenging a number of state lawsuits and laws that threaten American energy, including so-called 'climate superfund' legislation in New York and Vermont.

“The Trump Administration gets it. This cadre of state lawsuits and laws is not only an attack on the companies that provide Americans with affordable and reliable energy, but also an unconstitutional affront to the federal government’s role in setting national energy and climate policy. We thank the Department of Justice for their bold action in taking on this activist-driven state overreach.”

DOJ’s action follows President Trump’s April 8 Executive Order directing the Attorney General to identify all state and local laws, regulations and policies that are or may be unconstitutional in burdening the development of domestic energy resources. The President’s order describes such policies as “fundamentally irreconcilable with my Administration’s objective to unleash American energy.” In December and February, respectively, API joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in filing lawsuits against both states on similar grounds.

API represents all segments of America’s natural gas and oil industry, which supports nearly 11 million U.S. jobs and is backed by a growing grassroots movement of millions of Americans. Our approximately 600 members produce, process and distribute the majority of the nation’s energy, and participate in API Energy Excellence®, which is accelerating environmental and safety progress by fostering new technologies and transparent reporting. API was formed in 1919 as a standards-setting organization and has developed more than 800 standards to enhance operational and environmental safety, efficiency and sustainability.

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