- Minnesota AG Keith Ellison has obtained an order denying in large part motions to dismiss filed by defendants ExxonMobil Corp., the American Petroleum Institute, Koch Industries, Inc., Flint Hills Resources LP, and Flint Hills Resources Pine Bend (collectively “Defendants”) in the state’s climate change-related litigation.
- The complaint alleges that Defendants hid expert warnings about the consequences of fossil fuel consumption; paid third parties to promote false information; funded fraudulent science to raise doubts about the link between greenhouse emissions and climate change; and that Defendants’ actions adversely impacted Minnesota’s environment, infrastructure, and public health.
- In its decision, the court rejected Defendants’ arguments that the AG lacks jurisdiction, that the state claims are preempted by federal law, and that the claims are time-barred. The court also held that Minnesota made sufficient pleadings of causation and the majority of its state law claims, and that the lawsuit is not barred by the state’s former anti-SLAPP statute. The court found for Defendants in one respect, dismissing a claim alleging violations of the state’s Consumer Fraud Act.
- We have previously reported on similar climate change lawsuits against Exxon and other fossil fuel companies, including those filed in Vermont, Massachusetts, and D.C.