The U.S. Department of Justice is making clear that Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s long-anticipated climate lawsuit is imminent, and that fact justifies the federal government’s preemptive legal action to stop it.
DOJ’s filing follows comments from Center for Climate Integrity’s Ilya Shornstein, who openly stated during New York City’s Climate Week that Nessel’s lawsuit is coming “soon.” Her admission suggests that CCI has inside knowledge of the case before it’s public – underscoring the coordinated activist campaign behind these lawsuits.
DOJ: Michigan Lawsuit Is Imminent
In May, DOJ took the unusual step of suing Michigan to block its planned climate lawsuit, arguing a lawsuit would infringe on federal authority to regulate interstate greenhouse gas emissions. This week, in an brief filed at the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, DOJ said there is “credible evidence” that Michigan is preparing to join the wave of climate tort suits pushed by activist groups and Democratic attorneys general nationwide.
AG Nessel has tried to argue DOJ’s suit as premature since no climate complaint has been filed, yet she took to social media and claimed she’s “undeterred” by the DOJ’s lawsuit, filed in May. Federal lawyers countered that AG Nessel’s comments, coupled with her decision to hire Sher Edling and two other private firms to work on the potential case, makes the risk more than hypothetical.
As DOJ wrote:
“Michigan invites this Court to make believe that its threatened suit might not raise the sorts of claims that the United States argues are preempted: state-law claims for damages related to global climate change, whether sounding in nuisance, consumer protection, or some other state law. But Michigan offers no reason to expect that theoretical possibility, and there is none.”
The Bigger Picture
What’s happening in Lansing is no different from what’s been happening in statehouses and city halls across the country: a coordinated, activist-driven push to weaponize the courts against America’s energy producers. CCI is at the center of this effort, coaching AGs and quietly orchestrating filings while lawsuits are billed as independent, grassroots efforts.
Business groups across Michigan have urged AG Nessel not to go forward with her planned lawsuit.
“It is troubling that the Attorney General would attack Michigan’s ability to retain and grow jobs on a global scale. We call on the Attorney General to end this frivolous effort to target and stigmatize an industry critical to our state’s ability to thrive and compete both nationally and globally.” (Emphasis added)
There’s good reason why AG Nessel should hesitate – climate lawsuits are getting dismissed left and right. Courts in New Jersey, New York City, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, and elsewhere have tossed similar lawsuits, ruling that state courts aren’t the place to set climate policy.
Bottom line: AG Nessel has every reason to think twice. Climate lawsuits across the country have been thrown out as meritless, and Michigan taxpayers shouldn’t be asked to bankroll another doomed activist experiment. Instead of chasing copycat litigation that courts have already rejected, Michigan should focus on strengthening its economy and securing the reliable, affordable energy families and businesses need.
