Michigan is taking on major oil and gas companies in court, joining nearly a dozen other states that have brought climate-related lawsuits against ExxonMobil and its industry peers. But Michigan’s approach is different: accusing Big Oil not of deceiving consumers or misrepresenting climate change risks, but of driving up energy costs by colluding to suppress competition from cleaner and cheaper technologies like solar power and electric vehicles.
The strategy is risky and might run into challenges, but it could potentially be a game changer if the state can overcome initial dismissal attempts by the industry defendants, legal experts say.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed the lawsuit last month in federal District Court against BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell and the American Petroleum Institute. The suit, brought under federal and state antitrust laws, alleges a conspiracy to delay the transition to renewable energy and EVs and maintain market dominance of fossil fuels.
Exxon said in a statement that the state’s action is “yet another legally incoherent effort to regulate by lawsuit. It won’t reduce emissions, it won’t help consumers, and it won’t stand up to the law.”
Chevron did not respond to a request for comment, and BP and Shell declined to comment.
API senior vice president and general counsel Ryan Meyers said that Michigan’s case is “baseless” and “part of a coordinated campaign against an industry that powers everyday life, drives America’s economy, and is actively reducing emissions.”
“We continue to believe that energy policy belongs in Congress, not a patchwork of courtrooms,” Meyers added.
This week during a congressional hearing with Attorney General Pam Bondi testifying, U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.) referenced Michigan’s lawsuit in arguing that these “novel approaches” to “climate lawfare” require a federal response. Hageman said she is working with House and Senate colleagues to craft legislation aimed at shielding fossil fuel companies from state climate liability laws and lawsuits.