DOJ Ramps Up Climate Offensive Against States: States of Play

May 5, 2026, 6:32 PM UTC

DOJ Suing States to Thwart Climate Action

The DOJ’s environmental division is “bringing more litigation against states than we ever have before,” head Adam Gustafson said in an exclusive interview with Stephen Lee.

The reason for the shift: “because the states are doing things that they’ve never done before,” Gustafson said.

The Environment and Natural Resources Division’s offensive cases are mostly efforts to stop climate action by blue states—New York and Vermont’s Superfund laws, a California law barring certain oil and gas projects, and Minnesota targeting greenhouse gas emissions.

ENRD is still involved with defensive cases such ...

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