The Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of fossil fuel industry defendants’ motions to dismiss the State of Minnesota’s lawsuit alleging that the defendants engaged in a campaign to deceive Minnesota consumers and the public about fossil fuels and climate change. First, the appellate court found that the district court’s exercise of consent jurisdiction under the Minnesota Foreign Corporation Act (MCPA) did not violate the U.S. Constitution’s Due Process Clause or dormant Commerce Clause. Regarding the Due Process Clause, the appellate court rejected contentions that recent U.S. Supreme Court precedents called into question the exercise of consent jurisdiction. Regarding the dormant Commerce Clause, the appellate court found that the defendants failed to show that the MCFA favored in-state economic interests over out-of-state interests or expressly provided for differential treatment of in-state and out-of-state economic interests. Second, the appellate court concluded that Minnesota’s anti-SLAPP (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation) statutes did not apply because the State’s lawsuit sought equitable remedies and not damages and therefore did not fall within the anti-SLAPP statutes’ definition of “judicial claim.” Because there was no judicial claim, an anti-SLAPP motion could not be filed.

Action brought by Minnesota against members of the fossil fuel industry for allegedly causing climate change harms by misleading the public by downplaying the threat of climate change and the role of their products in causing climate change.

State v. American Petroleum Institute

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Appellate Court Affirmed Denial of Fossil Fuel Defendants’ Bids to Dismiss State of Minnesota’s Climate Deception Suit

Filed

United States of America

Minnesota

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Social inclusion is the process of improving the terms on which individuals and groups take part in society—improving the ability, opportunity, and dignity of those disadvantaged on the basis of their identity.

Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

woman and genders outside of the gender binary

Activities that involve planning, designing and building infrastructure, residential, and commercial structures.

This sector involves activities to move goods and people, alongside the storage of products.

This sector creates and distributes information and entertainment through television, radio, print, and digital platforms.

This sector involves activities that impart knowledge and skills to individuals, including formal schooling, vocational training and educational support.

Appellate Court Affirmed Denial of Fossil Fuel Defendants’ Bids to Dismiss State of Minnesota’s Climate Deception Suit

Impacted group

Just transition

Fossil fuel

Economic sector

Finance