DOJ Sues to Block Minnesota's Climate Fraud Case Against Energy Companies

U.S. U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota against Minnesota state officials, seeking to block the state's 2020 lawsuit against major energy companies over climate change allegations.

The DOJ is asking the court to prevent Minnesota from pursuing the 2020 lawsuit and from bringing similar litigation in the future. The complaint argues that authority over national energy policy and major questions involving greenhouse gas emissions rests with the federal government, not individual states.

” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed the 2020 lawsuit against Exxon Mobil, the American Petroleum Institute, Koch Industries, and Flint Hills Resources under state consumer-protection laws.

The suit alleges that the companies engaged in fraud and deceptive business practices by misleading the public about climate change and the role of fossil-fuel products in climate change. The 2020 Minnesota lawsuit remains pending after procedural fights over jurisdiction between state and federal court.

U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a lower-court ruling, allowing the 2020 Minnesota lawsuit to proceed in state court. ” Ellison pledged to seek dismissal of the DOJ lawsuit, calling it a “frivolous and meritless” case. The federal action follows an executive order issued last year by President Donald Trump, who directed the DOJ to take all appropriate action to stop state lawsuits seeking to dictate national energy policy.

” Last year, the DOJ filed preemptive lawsuits against Hawaii and Michigan over climate-related efforts, and both were dismissed by federal judges. Separate DOJ challenges to New York and Vermont’s laws, which seek to impose penalties tied to past greenhouse gas emissions to fund disaster relief and climate-related projects, remain pending.

The complaint accuses Minnesota of trying to impose its own climate policies on domestic energy producers in a way that burdens national energy development and intrudes on federal authority, according to the filing.

Pumpjacks operate near the site of a new oil and gas well being drilled in Midland, Texas, as captured in an April 8, 2022, image, illustrating the type of energy operations at the center of such disputes. The article detailing these developments was published on May 5, 2026.