Trump administration sues Michigan to block planned climate change lawsuit

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.N, Chevron CVX.N, ConocoPhillips COP.N, Shell SHEL.L and BPBP.L 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.