Trump and GOP confront state climate plans on two fronts

• Advocates of tougher steps to fight global warming see chances for important gains.
• But many industry groups, red state and Trump officials see intrusion into federal policymaking turf.

Catch up quick: The Justice Department, in a highly unusual move, is seeking district court injunctions to block Michigan and Hawaii from filing lawsuits that demand damages from fossil fuel producers.

• Hawaii nonetheless filed suit against oil majors yesterday, though DOJ has made clear it will fight the effort.
• Separately, DOJ filed cases against "climate superfund" laws recently enacted in Vermont and New York that also seek billions of dollars from the industry.
• The moves follow President Trump's exec order last month pushing the Justice Department to challenge state policies and lawsuits that it alleges would burden energy production.

State of play: Meanwhile, House Republicans, joined by 35 Democrats, passed a measure on Thursday that would thwart California rules that effectively ban the sale of new gas cars by 2035.

• The resolution under the Congressional Review Act would nix the EPA waiver allowing California rules that a dozen other states can follow.

What's next: A looming Senate battle over skirting a parliamentarian ruling that these special, filibuster-proof measures can't be used to rescind EPA waivers.

Friction point: Getting back to DOJ's moves, red states and industry groups are already battling the New York and Vermont state climate superfund laws in court.

• So let's focus on attempts, citing constitutional and other arguments, to block Michigan and Hawaii from bringing cases against oil companies
• "The idea the federal government can preempt states from even attempting to file lawsuits is outlandish, and the complaint does not fairly represent relevant legal authorities," Jonathan Adler, a professor at Case Western Reserve University, tells me via email.
• Side note: he's not a lefty.

It's "certainly unusual, possibly unprecedented," Michael Gerrard, who heads Columbia's Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, tells me. (His group has been involved in supporting some climate litigation.)

The other side: The DOJ, in the complaints, says it's ensuring states don't interfere with the Clean Air Act or the federal government's "exclusive authority over interstate and foreign commerce, greenhouse gas regulation, and national energy policy."

• It alleges state restrictions and "burdens" on energy producers are raising consumer costs and making the U.S. "less able to defend itself from hostile foreign actors."

What they're saying: The American Petroleum Institute applauded the DOJ efforts against the four states.

• It said the Trump team "gets it" about state laws and lawsuits that "attack" — unconstitutionally in API's view — companies providing reliable energy.
• But Michigan AG Dana Nessel noted in a statement her lawsuit against fossil fuel producers hasn't been filed, which makes DOJ's move "at best frivolous and arguably sanctionable."

What we're watching: A lot.

• But first up is what district court judges in Michigan and Hawaii do with the DOJ's preemption gambit.