The U.S. Justice Department is preemptively challenging potential Michigan lawsuits against oil and gas companies. The state has said it intends to seek compensation from the companies over their contributions to climate change.
The federal lawsuit says any Michigan legal actions against energy companies would violate the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution and the U.S. Clean Air Act, which gives the federal government broad authority to regulate emissions.
“At a time when States should be contributing to a national effort to secure reliable sources of domestic energy, Michigan is choosing to stand in the way. This Nation’s Constitution and laws do not tolerate this interference,” reads the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court Western District of Michigan, adding that Michigan’s climate plan interferes with the “federal government’s exclusive authority over interstate and foreign commerce, greenhouse gas regulation, and national energy policy.”
Michigan has a law signed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer that sets a goal of net-zero emissions in the state by 2040. And Attorney General Dana Nessel has retained private law firms to file legal actions after announcing her intentions to seek damages against oil and gas companies.
“As my office’s anticipated lawsuit in this arena is not yet filed and our claims unknown to the administration—as conceded directly in their complaint— this lawsuit is at best frivolous and arguably sanctionable,” Nessel said in a statement released by her office. “If the White House or Big Oil wish to challenge our claims, they can do so when our lawsuit is filed; they will not succeed in any attempt to preemptively bar our access to make our claims in the courts.”
The Justice Department filed a similar preemptive action against Hawaii and has also challenged clean energy policies in New York and Vermont.
Attorney David Doniger with the Natural Resources Defense Council said he expects to see more legal actions like this from the Trump administration.
“There are many states and local governments who have brought lawsuits to try to get compensation, get damages from the oil companies and from some others,” he said. “The sort of odd thing is that the Michigan and Hawaii cases are not filed yet.”
Scott McClallen with the Mackinac Center, a free market think tank, agrees with the Trump administration’s argument that Michigan’s climate change goals would make energy more expensive.
“The anti-energy and net-zero policies pushed by the state of Michigan, Attorney General Dana Nessel, Governor Gretchen Whitmer, restrict access to reliable energy and drive up costs for all Michigan residents,” he said.
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