The state that led the successful legal challenge to New York's Climate Superfund law is already targeting Vermont's version next, while New York's own governor and attorney general stay silent on an appeal.
West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey, whose office led the legal challenge that struck down New York's Climate Superfund law on September 1, called the ruling "a major victory" and said his office is separately challenging Vermont's comparable law. New York State Assemblymember Dinowitz has urged the state to appeal, but neither New York Governor Kathy Hochul's office nor the state attorney general has publicly commented on whether an appeal is coming.
The underlying challenge has been described in some reporting as a coalition of 22 states, though that figure hasn't been confirmed against the court docket. New York's climate law, which sought to fund state programs through penalties on energy companies, is now stalled with the state's next move undisclosed, and West Virginia's pivot toward Vermont signals the fight over how states can fund climate spending through industry penalties is far from over.