Trump Directs DOJ to Challenge State Energy Rules That Could Be Unconstitutional

A new order aims to identify any state laws, regulations, policies, or practices that may be unenforceable.

The Department of Justice in Washington on Feb. 12, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

President Donald Trump, among a flurry of energy-related executive orders on April 8, has instructed the Department of Justice to review state energy rules and regulations so it can challenge any that may be overreaching.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi is directed to identify any state laws, regulations, policies, or practices that “are or may be unconstitutional, preempted by Federal law, or otherwise unenforceable,” according to the new order.

Trump identified oil, natural gas, coal, hydropower, geothermal, biofuel, critical mineral, and nuclear energy resources as domestic energy sectors that may be facing such unfair impediments to their domestic growth and development.

“American energy dominance is threatened when State and local governments seek to regulate energy beyond their constitutional or statutory authorities,” the order states, pointing to discriminatory barriers to interstate and international trade with out-of-state energy producers, and arbitrary or excessive fines that are retroactively slapped on energy producers “without legitimate justification.”

The order said many states have or are about to enact “burdensome and ideologically motivated ‘climate change’ or energy policies that threaten American energy dominance and ... economic and national security.”

Some states have passed climate-related regulations that have had the impact of reducing investment in fossil fuel energy production and use.

Trump specifically cited laws in New York and Vermont that fine fossil fuel companies for their state-determined contribution to predicted “climate change” impacts.

He also cited California’s cap-and-trade policy.

States, in their lawsuits, have also sought to hold energy companies accountable for their role in projected “climate change” and its estimated impacts.

“My administration is committed to unleashing American energy, especially through the removal of all illegitimate impediments,” Trump said in the order. “Americans must be permitted to heat their homes, fuel their cars, and have peace of mind—free from policies that make energy more expensive and inevitably degrade quality of life.”

Responding to Trump’s executive order, the two governors who co-chair the U.S. Climate Alliance—New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, both Democrats—said states cannot be stripped of their authority to regulate energy.

“We will keep advancing solutions to the climate crisis that safeguard Americans’ fundamental right to clean air and water, create good-paying jobs, grow the clean energy economy, and make our future healthier and safer,” the governors said in a joint statement.

The American Petroleum Institute (API), an oil and gas trade group, praised Trump’s order.

“We welcome President Trump’s action to hold states like New York and California accountable for pursuing unconstitutional efforts that illegally penalize U.S. oil and natural gas producers for delivering the energy American consumers rely on every day,” API Senior Vice President Ryan Meyers said in a statement.

Trump signed three other energy-related executive orders directed at reversing policies aimed at curbing carbon emissions and bringing more domestic energy production, including that of U.S.-mined coal, online as soon as possible.

Reuters contributed to this report.