Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America v. Moore

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and American Petroleum Institute filed a lawsuit in the federal district court for the District of Vermont challenging Vermont’s Climate Superfund Act, which established a Climate Superfund Cost Recovery Program to be funded by payments, based on a standard of strict liability, from companies that engaged in fossil fuel extraction or crude oil refining between 1995 and 2024 to which more than one billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed. The Program is to fund climate adaptation programs in the state. The plaintiffs asserted that the Vermont law is precluded by the U.S. Constitution, including constitutional principles that require that federal law govern matters concerning “uniquely federal interests” such as interstate and global greenhouse gas emissions and that recognize the “equal sovereignty” of all states. The plaintiffs contended that these and other constitutional principles restrict states from legislating in ways that extend beyond their borders. The plaintiffs also asserted that the Vermont law is preempted by the Clean Air Act; violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause; violates the domestic and foreign Commerce Clauses; imposes an excessive fine in violation of the Eighth Amendment; and effects an unconstitutional taking under the Fifth Amendment. The plaintiffs requested declaratory and injunctive relief, as well as attorneys’ fees and costs.