US Judge Dismisses Michigan Climate Suit Against Oil Companies

WASHINGTON, Sept 22 (Reuters) - A US judge dismissed an antitrust lawsuit on Tuesday that Michigan had brought against four large oil companies, accusing them of conspiring to hinder competition in renewable energy, including electric vehicles. The ruling aligned with earlier decisions in similar cases.

US District Judge Jane Beckering, in Grand Rapids, rejected the January suit filed by Democratic Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel against BP, Chevron, Exxon, Shell and the American Petroleum Institute.

The judge held that none of the injuries Michigan sought to remedy were protected by antitrust laws, aside from energy overcharges.

Beckering said the gap between the alleged conspiracy and the overcharges paid by Michigan and its residents was too wide to conclude that the conspiracy proximately caused those overcharges.

According to the complaint, the companies aimed to stunt the rise of electric vehicles and renewable primary energy technologies across the United States.

Other judges have thrown out similar climate lawsuits, including cases in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico and South Carolina.

A lawyer for Chevron previously described Michigan’s lawsuit as baseless, citing multiple related court dismissals.

Chevron and the other companies have fought for years against lawsuits from state and local governments seeking to hold them responsible for climate change, and many of those cases are still pending.

The Trump administration has repeatedly acted to ease the path for automakers to avoid building electric vehicles and to make those vehicles costlier for consumers, reversing policies from the Biden administration.