idahonews.com · September 8, 2026
Idaho AG says ruling stops New York fines from being passed on to consumers
# Idaho AG says ruling stops New York fines from being passed on to consumers
by CBS2 News Staff
Tue, September 8, 2026 at 10:02 AM
IDAHO ATTORNEY GENERAL RAUL LABRADOR (CBS2)
BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — A federal judge has struck down New York’s Climate Change Superfund Act, a decision Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador said will prevent billions of dollars in penalties from being passed on to consumers.
Labrador announced today that the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York declared the law unenforceable. The statute sought to impose $75 billion in fines on energy producers for prior lawful energy production. Labrador joined a coalition of attorneys general in challenging the law, alongside the Trump Administration and attorneys representing the coal, oil, and natural gas industries.
Climate Superfund laws target select traditional energy producers with steep penalties for decades of prior energy production. New York’s law specifically targeted energy production from 2000-2024 and aimed to impose $75 billion in fines, even as New York used and profited from fossil fuels during those years. During that period, energy producers were regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency and subject to state laws that allowed them to legally produce energy for the nation.
“New York forced their job-killing climate agenda on critical industries,” Labrador said. “That $75 billion bill would have landed on Idaho families every time they filled up their truck or heated their home. Extortion disguised as regulation is unacceptable to our coalition, and the District Court agreed.”
In late July, the court heard arguments in West Virginia v. James. Chief Judge Brenda Sannes issued a written ruling in favor of West Virginia, holding that the Climate Change Superfund Act was “simply beyond the limits of state law.”
The court found New York’s law conflicted with federal interests in applying uniform air pollution regulations, noting that the federal Clean Air Act provides exclusive rules for regulating interstate air pollution. Because the New York statute is inconsistent with the Clean Air Act, the court said it cannot be enforced. The ruling also said the foreign affairs doctrine preempted the law’s attempt to regulate international emissions.
The decision is the first ruling on the issue, Labrador said. The coalition of attorneys general is also challenging a similar Superfund law in Vermont, and similar legislation is pending in several other states.
Idaho joined West Virginia, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming in the lawsuit.