The state of Michigan filed a lawsuit in federal court last week against major oil companies including ExxonMobil and Chevron, accusing them of engaging in a decades-long conspiracy to block the development of clean energy and electric vehicles.
Picture yourself in a parallel universe. The state of Michigan, home of America’s auto industry, is a thriving hub for electric vehicles. They are not “a fringe technology or a luxury alternative” but rather “a common sight in every neighborhood — rolling off assembly lines in Flint, parked in driveways in Dearborn, charging outside grocery stores in Grand Rapids, and running quietly down Woodward Avenue.”
That Michigan could have existed by now, a new lawsuit brought by state attorney general Dana Nessel argues, if four major oil companies and their biggest trade group hadn’t conspired to block it for decades.
The Michigan case, filed last week in federal court, accuses ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, Shell, and the American Petroleum Institute of engaging in a decades-long conspiracy to block the development of clean energy and electric vehicles in order to ensure that their fossil fuel products dominate the market.
The case is distinct from the dozens of other climate deception lawsuits brought by state and local governments against oil and gas giants, instead arguing that the companies violated state and federal antitrust laws. Acting as a “cartel,” the defendants robbed consumers of energy and transportation choices in “one of the most successful antitrust conspiracies in United States history,” the complaint says.
But Michigan’s lawsuit also represents the Trump administration’s latest failure to quash climate lawsuits against Big Oil. After President Donald Trump last year directed…
Auteur: Emily Sanders
