Trump administration sues Minnesota over attempts to rein in fossil fuel producers

The U.S. Department of Justice sued the state of Minnesota and Attorney General Keith Ellison Monday, asking a federal judge to toss out the state’s lawsuit against petroleum companies.

Ellison’s office sued Exxon Mobil, Koch Industries, Flint Hills Resources and the American Petroleum Institute in June 2020, alleging that the companies and trade organizations misled Minnesotans about the costs and causes of climate change in violation of state laws regarding consumer fraud, deceptive trade practices and false statements in advertising.

Ellison’s lawsuit requests that the companies “disgorge all profits made as a result of their unlawful conducts” and fund a public education campaign on climate change. 

The complaint filed Monday by the DOJ asserts that the federal government alone has the right to regulate major energy producers, and requests that the federal judge toss out Minnesota’s lawsuit and block them for pursuing such litigation in the future. 

“Climate change lawsuits, like Minnesota’s, artfully plead around federal law while transparently seeking to change national energy policy related to global greenhouse gas emissions and to regulate conduct beyond local borders,” the complaint reads. 

After a lengthy legal back-and-forth over whether Minnesota’s lawsuit against the oil companies belongs in state or federal court, Ellison was ultimately successful in keeping the case in state court. The oil companies appealed to higher courts in an attempt to toss out the lawsuit, but the U.S. Supreme Court in April declined to hear their case. A pause on the litigation expired Monday, coinciding with filing of the new DOJ lawsuit.