Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel took aim at BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell and the American Petroleum Institute, hauling them into federal court on antitrust charges. The theory was breathtaking in scope. 

She accused them of stealing the future. Nessel’s complaint claimed that the companies had colluded, in violation of federal antitrust law, to hold back wind, solar, and electric vehicles and that Michigan families had paid inflated energy bills as a result.

Judge Jane M. Beckering of the U.S. Western District Court in Michigan dismissed the complaint, holding that the state lacked standing to pursue the claim at all. That was only the beginning of the court's skepticism. 

As reported, Judge Beckering found that the alleged chain connecting a decades-long conspiracy to the state's claimed overcharges stretched too thin to support most of the injuries Michigan tried to claim. The U.S. Justice Department has spent the past year fighting a nationwide wave of climate suits.

“This dismissal should make states rethink the use of lawfare to enact climate change policy,” said Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. “We are committed to upholding antitrust and environmental law. Michigan’s case would have accomplished neither. ... Antitrust law protects competition and thereby consumers; it is not a tool to........

© Townhall