Judge Jane Beckering dismissed Michigan’s antitrust suit accusing BP, Chevron, Exxon, Shell and the American Petroleum Institute of conspiring to hinder electric vehicles and renewable energy. She said the alleged conspiracy was too remote to link to energy overcharges.
Filed in January by Attorney General Dana Nessel, the complaint alleged the companies sought to restrain the emergence of electric vehicles and renewable-energy technologies. It said Exxon developed hybrid gas-electric vehicle technology in the 1970s but never marketed it, and cited a 1979 internal study predicting renewable energy would increasingly threaten fossil fuels.
Similar climate lawsuits have been rejected in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico and South Carolina, although many state and local government cases remain pending. Nessel’s office said it disagreed with the ruling and was considering its options. The Justice Department, which sued Michigan in May to prevent it from suing the oil companies, praised the dismissal; Chevron’s lawyer said it joined a growing list of dismissed climate cases.
