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Justice Department calls Michigan's planned lawsuit

overreach

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Michigan preparing litigation against fossil fuel industry

By Nate Raymond

May 1 (Reuters) - The Trump administration has sued the

state of Michigan, seeking to prevent it from suing major oil

companies over the role they have played in causing climate

change, saying the Democratic-led state was standing in the way

of domestic energy production.

The U.S. Department of Justice in a lawsuit filed late

Wednesday in Michigan said the state's intended lawsuit

constitutes an "extraordinary extraterritorial reach" that will

undermine federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions and the

administration's foreign policy objectives.

The state has not filed the lawsuit yet. But Michigan

Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, in October said the

state was seeking proposals from law firms to represent it in

climate change-related litigation.

Numerous Democratic-led states have in recent years filed

similar lawsuits against companies including Exxon Mobil ( XOM )

, Chevron ( CVX ), ConocoPhillips ( COP ), Shell

and BP accusing them of deceiving the public about the

role fossil fuels have played in causing climate change.

The unusual preemptive lawsuit follows a pledge by

Republican President Donald Trump's campaign during the 2024

election to "stop the wave of frivolous litigation from

environmental extremists."

The Justice Department in the lawsuit cites an executive

order Trump signed on his first day back in office on Jan. 20

declaring a national energy emergency to speed permitting of

energy projects, rolling back environmental protections, and

withdrawing the U.S. from an international pact to fight climate

change.

"As a result of state restrictions and burdens on energy

production, the American people are paying more for energy, and

the United States is less able to defend itself from hostile

foreign actors," the Justice Department said.

It said Michigan was standing in the way of the

administration's efforts to boost the domestic energy supply

with its announcement in October that it was planning to pursue

litigation against the fossil fuel industry.

"This Nation's Constitution and laws do not tolerate this

interference," the lawsuit said.

Nessel's office did not immediately respond to a request for

comment.

Similar lawsuits by state and local governments have accused

energy companies of creating a public nuisance or violating

state laws by concealing from the public for decades the fact

that burning fossil fuels would lead to climate change. The

companies deny wrongdoing.

Many of the cases remain in their early stages after years

of litigation by oil companies over whether the states could sue

in state rather than federal court.

The U.S. Supreme Court in March rejected a bid by 19

Republican-led states, led by Alabama, to block five

Democratic-led states from pursuing such lawsuits. The

Republican-led states raised similar claims as the Justice

Department's case.