Trump administration moves to block Minnesota climate change lawsuit against oil companies

Source: AP

Updated 6:28 PM EDT, May 4, 2026


President Donald Trump’s administration moved Monday to block a lawsuit Minnesota officials filed almost six years ago alleging oil companies and a petroleum trade group deceived state residents about climate change.

The U.S. Department of Justice, the administration’s law enforcement arm, filed an action in federal court in Minneapolis arguing that the federal government has the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, not states, and that Minnesota officials are trying to improperly impose their policy preferences on the rest of the country.

“The Constitution does not tolerate such a conflict,” Justice Department attorneys argued in the filing. “Nor does it allow Minnesota to national its regulatory powers.”

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, a Democrat, filed a lawsuit in state court in June 2020 against ExxonMobil, Koch Industries, the American Petroleum Institute and refinery company Flint Hills Resources, a Koch subsidiary, accusing them of consumer fraud and deceptive trade practices. At least 15 other states brought similar lawsuits, including Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island. Ellison issued a statement Monday calling the Justice Department’s action meritless.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/trump-minnesota-lawsuit-climate-change-federal-fb9c89151bbbdbded33a22a94772e6d5