New York’s attempt to stick American energy companies with a $75 billion bill for decades of lawful energy production faced a skeptical federal judge last week.

The hearing came in a lawsuit brought by 22 Republican-led states and major trade associations challenging New York’s so-called Climate Change Superfund Act. The challengers argue that the law is an unconstitutional power grab designed to punish selected companies for global emissions and conduct that occurred far beyond New York’s borders.

During oral arguments Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, Chief Judge Brenda Sannes repeatedly questioned whether the law conflicts with federal authority and a binding Second Circuit decision that rejected a similar effort to hold energy producers liable for global climate change.

The hearing offered an early indication that climate activists may have carried the same legal problems from their failed courtroom campaign into their new legislative strategy.

Read more on EID Climate.