The United States filed a lawsuit seeking to enjoin the State of Minnesota and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison from continuing Minnesota’s lawsuit that seeks to hold fossil fuel industry defendants liable for causing harmful climate change-related impacts in the state. Minnesota’s suit asserts state law claims based on allegations that the defendants participated in a “campaign of deception” to conceal and misrepresent the connection between the defendants’ products and climate change and that the defendants’ actions delayed action to address fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The U.S.’s complaint alleged that Minnesota’s suit, as well as other climate suits, sought to “artfully plead around federal law while transparently seeking to change national energy policy related to global greenhouse gas emissions and to regulate conduct beyond local borders.” The U.S. further alleged that climate suits like Minnesota’s “directly conflict with and threaten the United States’ capacity to administer federal law and conduct foreign affairs” and “undermine American energy dominance—which is a cornerstone of national energy policy.” The complaint asserted that Minnesota’s claims were precluded under the Constitution because they concern the “uniquely federal interests” of interstate and global pollution and because the claims constitute impermissible extraterritorial regulation in violation of horizontal separation of power. The complaint also asserted that Minnesota’s claims were preempted by the Clean Air Act and under the foreign affairs doctrine. In addition, the U.S. asserted a violation of the dormant Commerce Clause. The U.S. requested a declaration that Minnesota’s suit was unlawful as well as preliminary and permanent injunctive relief blocking Minnesota from pursuing the case. 

United States' lawsuit seeking to enjoin the State of Minnesota from proceeding with its climate suit against fossil fuel industry defendants.

United States v. Minnesota

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United States Filed Suit in Federal District Court to Block Minnesota’s Climate Suit Against Fossil Fuel Defendants

Filed

United States of America

Minnesota

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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.

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

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

The release of heat-trapping gases, primarily from human activities such as burning fossil fuels, agriculture and industry.

Air pollution involves harmful contaminants in the air, affecting both indoor and outdoor environments. It can lead to health issues like respiratory diseases and heart problems, and climate impacts such as global warming. Pollutants can damage plants, trees, habitats, and water bodies like rivers and lakes.

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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.

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People with different national or cultural traditions from the dominant population

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Any compulsory, unrequited payment to the government levied on corporations or individuals. This can be for environmental reasons, such as introducing a Carbon tax to set a price that emitters must pay for the greenhouse gases they emit.

Activities of industries that extract natural resources, such as mining, oil, and gas, for commercial use.

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This sector involves the wholesale and retail selling of goods.

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

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Climate change can have a range of impacts on technological system. Extreme weather events can cause infrastructure failures like power outages or damage to roads and bridges, as well as the impacts from waste following natural disasters. Human activities also cause technological impacts, such as the risks posed by oil spillage and leaks.

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United States Filed Suit in Federal District Court to Block Minnesota’s Climate Suit Against Fossil Fuel Defendants

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Finance