US judge dismisses Michigan climate lawsuit against oil companies

US District Judge Jane Beckering on Tuesday dismissed an antitrust lawsuit filed by Michigan against four major oil companies and the American Petroleum Institute. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel had accused the companies of colluding to hinder competition in renewable energy, including electric vehicles.

Judge Beckering stated that antitrust laws do not protect against the injuries alleged in the lawsuit, except for energy overcharges. She found that the alleged conspiracy was too distant from the claimed overcharges to establish that the conspiracy proximately caused them.

The lawsuit claimed the companies sought to "restrain the emergence of electric vehicles and renewable primary energy technologies in the United States." Similar climate lawsuits have been rejected by judges in other states, including Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, and South Carolina. A lawyer for Chevron had previously called Michigan's lawsuit "baseless."