Trump DOJ Sues To Stop Minnesota's 'Woke' Climate Lawsuit Against ExxonMobil, Koch Industries

ST. PAUL, MN — The U.S. Department of Justice sued Minnesota and Attorney General Keith Ellison on Monday, seeking to block the state from pursuing its climate deception lawsuit against major oil companies.

The federal complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Minnesota, argues that the state is trying to regulate global greenhouse gas emissions through a consumer-protection lawsuit. The Justice Department says that authority belongs to the federal government, not individual states.

Minnesota's lawsuit was filed in 2020 against ExxonMobil, Koch Industries, Flint Hills Resources, and the American Petroleum Institute.

The state accused the companies of misleading Minnesotans for decades about the role fossil fuels play in climate change.

The lawsuit says the companies knew about climate risks but downplayed or obscured them through advertising, marketing, and public statements.

The new federal complaint says Minnesota's lawsuit is preempted by federal law and interferes with the federal government's authority over interstate air pollution, the Clean Air Act, and foreign affairs.

"President Trump promised to unleash American energy dominance, and Minnesota officials cannot undermine his directive by mandating that their woke climate preferences become the uniform policy of our Nation," Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said in a statement.

"Minnesota's attempt to impose a national regulation on global greenhouse gas emissions not only is preempted by federal law, but also undermines affordable and reliable American energy, weakening the national and economic security of the United States," Woodward added.

The Justice Department said it will seek preliminary injunctive relief. The complaint asks the court to declare Minnesota's lawsuit unlawful and block the state from using the case to regulate global greenhouse gas emissions.

The DOJ said the filing advances President Donald Trump's executive order aimed at "protecting American energy from state overreach."