A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed Michigan’s novel antitrust lawsuit against oil companies over their role in climate change.
The lawsuit, filed in January by Attorney General Dana Nessel, accused a handful of fossil fuel companies of creating a “cartel” and raising costs for residents by suppressing the development of renewable energy and information about the risks of global warming.
Judge Jane M. Beckering of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan found that Michigan lacked a basis under federal law “to seek any relief requested” in the lawsuit.
The case was similar, in some ways, to about three dozen other cases filed by state and local governments against oil companies over climate change in the past decade. But its use of antitrust law was a notable difference.
Michigan’s lawsuit named B.P., Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Shell and the American Petroleum Institute, a trade group. Neither the attorney general’s office nor the defendants immediately responded to requests for comment.
It was also filed in direct defiance of the Trump administration, which had taken the unusual step of pre-emptively suing Michigan to try to prevent the state from filing its own lawsuit. That suit was also dismissed by Judge Beckering, who concluded that it was too speculative to consider.
The Trump administration has been staunch in its position that climate litigation constitutes an attack on a critical industry. The Justice Department is scheduled to argue in support of Exxon Mobil and Suncor Energy in a climate case brought by the city and county of Boulder, Colo., before the Supreme Court on Oct. 5.
As climate lawsuits have proliferated, so have efforts to pass state and federal-level laws granting fossil fuel companies legal immunity. Several states passed such laws this year, and federal bills were introduced in the House and Senate.
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