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Retroactive liability laws target energy producers

September 10, 2026

Need to know

RealClear

Common Sense

REFORM MATTERS: If our politicians care about affordability, they will pass permitting reform, writes noted energy expert Alex Epstein.
Why it matters: This has long been at the core of TEA’s platform, our Common Sense Energy Agenda. Bureaucracy, regulation and red tape are the enemies of America’s energy security.
Just this week the administration is attempting to fast-track oil drilling approvals in Alaska.
After years of failed permitting reform efforts, a great bipartisan deal is finally within reach. The House has passed good reforms, the Senate is deep into negotiations, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune has said he will put a deal on the floor as soon as it is ready.
A failure now will certainly lock in higher prices for years.
Consider:
  • In an August national poll, Americans asked to name their top election issue named affordability (“inflation and the cost of living”) more than the other 3 most popular issues combined.
  • The only lasting path to affordability is for the supply of energy, housing, and other goods to increase faster than demand.
  • Permitting delays only strangle supply, leading to unnecessarily high prices.

Reforms to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) — America’s most litigated environmental law — are needed to prevent activists and judges from tying up price-lowering energy projects, including but not limited to natural gas ones.

Thanks in large part to inadequate pipeline capacity, the average wholesale price of natural gas in New England last winter was 54% higher than the national average. If those residents paid the same natural gas prices as the rest of the country a typical household would save more than $500 a year.
Many of the permitting reforms Congress is now working on were made by the first Trump administration, reversed by the Biden administration, then restored by the current administration.
Bottom line: The only way President Trump and Congress can leave a lasting legacy is for Congress to pass comprehensive permitting reform now.

Nonsense

STOPPING THE SHAKEDOWNS: Green lawsuits threaten the world’s energy future.
Why it matters: To date 3,600 lawsuits across 62 countries have been filed. The Stop Climate Shakedowns Act of 2026 would block such egregious litigation in the U.S.
Public policy works best when it is transparent and grounded in economic reality, says Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas), in this op-ed piece.
“Government fails and breaks trust with the people when it rewrites the rules after the fact and tries to impose new liabilities on industries for conduct that was legal, regulated and often encouraged at the time it occurred.”
Consider:
  • That debate is playing out in Congress as we consider legislation designed to prevent states from using litigation and retroactive liability laws to target energy producers.
  • Rep. Pfluger co-sponsored the measure, which blocks lawsuits and “superfund” laws designed to bleed energy companies of billions of dollars to be used for leftist’s climate projects.
  • Allowing states to impose conflicting liability standards could create a costly patchwork of laws and uncertainty for an industry central to the economy and national security. National energy policy should be established by Congress and the president—not pieced together through state-by-state litigation.

Energy development requires billions of dollars in investment and planning horizons extending decades. Retroactive liability and uncertain legal standards could discourage that investment, restrict supplies and ultimately raise consumer costs.

The green-at-any-cost agenda always creates tension between their utopia and reality. California’s leaders have adopted some of the nation’s most aggressive climate policies, and today predictably find themselves facing a continually increasing demand for fuel.
Bottom line: Energy and climate policy should be decided transparently by elected lawmakers — not imposed retroactively through litigation.

Midterm spotlight

A look ahead

Hearing on Nuclear Spent Fuel: On Thursday, September 15, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy will have a hearing on Nuclear Spent Fuel Policy: Examining Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses.

Quote of the week

“This is a major opportunity for West Virginia to help lead America’s nuclear renaissance and bring another generation of investment and good-paying jobs to our state.”