WASHINGTON (WCAX) – The Trump administration has singled out Vermont, New York, and other states in executive orders to boost the coal industry and to curb states’ efforts to curb climate change.

The orders aimed at boosting the struggling coal industry also target what the administration calls “overreach” by Democratic-controlled states to limit energy production to slow climate change.

Vermont’s climate superfund law approved last year opened the door for the state to sue fossil fuel companies and recoup damages from extreme weather caused by climate change. The state has already faced lawsuits over it.

The president’s new order directs the U.S. attorney general to take “all appropriate action to stop the enforcement” of such laws.

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