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Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison testifies before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on February 12, 2026 in Washington, DC.
(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Trump DOJ Sues Minnesota in 'Desperate Effort to Shield' Big Oil From Climate Case
"The American people deserve a Department of Justice that fights for us, and it's a tremendous shame that Trump's DOJ would rather sell us out to Big Oil," said Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.
May 04, 2026
Just weeks after the Minnesota Supreme Court allowed the state's climate deception lawsuit against the fossil fuel industry to move into discovery, President Donald Trump's Department of Justice took action in federal court on Monday to block the case.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison first sued the American Petroleum Institute, ExxonMobil, Koch Industries, and its subsidiary Flint Hills Resources in state court for orchestrating and executing a "campaign of deception" regarding the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency "with disturbing success" in 2020.
The industry has been fighting to kill the case since then, and the DOJ on Monday filed a complaint in the District of Minnesota against both the state and Ellison. In a related statement, Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward declared that "President Trump promised to unleash American energy dominance, and Minnesota officials cannot undermine his directive by mandating that their woke climate preferences become the uniform policy of our nation."
"Minnesota's attempt to impose a national regulation on global greenhouse gas emissions not only is preempted by federal law, but also undermines affordable and reliable American energy, weakening the national and economic security of the United States," Woodward continued, summarizing the argument made in the new federal filing.
While the fossil fuel entities targeted by Minnesota welcomed the Trump DOJ's intervention, Ellison made clear that he was undeterred.
"In 2020, I sued Big Oil for lying to Minnesotans about the true causes of climate change, then sticking us with the bill for the harms it is causing," Ellison said. "Six years later, we are still waiting to go to trial because Big Oil has pulled every procedural trick in the book to delay facing the consequences of their unlawful actions."
"This frivolous and meritless lawsuit is just their latest attempt to hide from accountability, and I will move to have it dismissed immediately," he pledged. "The American people deserve a Department of Justice that fights for us, and it's a tremendous shame that Trump's DOJ would rather sell us out to Big Oil."
Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity, which supports cases against polluters, also ripped the federal filing.
"This is a desperate effort to shield the architects of Big Oil's decadeslong climate deception from facing accountability," said Wiles. "Big Oil and the Trump administration are clearly terrified that Minnesota's lawsuit will reveal exactly how these defendants defrauded the public about the dangers of fossil fuels. Federal courts dismissed the Trump administration's last two attempts to stop states from taking Big Oil companies to court. This naked political intimidation tactic should meet the same fate."
Trump was backed by Big Oil during the 2024 election and campaigned on a promise to "drill, baby, drill." Since returning to office, he's aimed to serve industry interests in a range of ways, including last year's executive order directing the US attorney general to protect "American energy from state overreach."
The Justice Department noted in its Monday statement that last year, its Environment and Natural Resources Division "filed complaints against Hawaii, Michigan, New York, and Vermont to stop those states' unconstitutional climate actions."
Dozens of state and local governments have filed cases similar to Ellison's in Minnesota. The US Supreme Court is preparing to hear arguments related to one from Colorado that dates back to 2018: Suncor Energy Inc. v. County Commissioners of Boulder County.
Meanwhile, Trump and Big Oil's allies in Congress are also working to protect polluters. Last month, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) introduced a bill that, if passed, would "prohibit liability against those engaged in the mining, extraction, production, refinement, transportation, distribution, marketing, manufacture, or sale of energy for damages or injunctive or other relief from the use of their products, and for other purposes."
Wiles noted at the time that "Big Oil companies have raked in massive profits at the pump while lying to the American people about the catastrophic harm of their products, and now they want to deny Americans their rightful day in court and stick taxpayers with the bill for the mess they made."
"If fossil fuel companies have done nothing wrong," he asked, "why do they need immunity?"
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Just weeks after the Minnesota Supreme Court allowed the state's climate deception lawsuit against the fossil fuel industry to move into discovery, President Donald Trump's Department of Justice took action in federal court on Monday to block the case.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison first sued the American Petroleum Institute, ExxonMobil, Koch Industries, and its subsidiary Flint Hills Resources in state court for orchestrating and executing a "campaign of deception" regarding the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency "with disturbing success" in 2020.
The industry has been fighting to kill the case since then, and the DOJ on Monday filed a complaint in the District of Minnesota against both the state and Ellison. In a related statement, Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward declared that "President Trump promised to unleash American energy dominance, and Minnesota officials cannot undermine his directive by mandating that their woke climate preferences become the uniform policy of our nation."
"Minnesota's attempt to impose a national regulation on global greenhouse gas emissions not only is preempted by federal law, but also undermines affordable and reliable American energy, weakening the national and economic security of the United States," Woodward continued, summarizing the argument made in the new federal filing.
While the fossil fuel entities targeted by Minnesota welcomed the Trump DOJ's intervention, Ellison made clear that he was undeterred.
"In 2020, I sued Big Oil for lying to Minnesotans about the true causes of climate change, then sticking us with the bill for the harms it is causing," Ellison said. "Six years later, we are still waiting to go to trial because Big Oil has pulled every procedural trick in the book to delay facing the consequences of their unlawful actions."
"This frivolous and meritless lawsuit is just their latest attempt to hide from accountability, and I will move to have it dismissed immediately," he pledged. "The American people deserve a Department of Justice that fights for us, and it's a tremendous shame that Trump's DOJ would rather sell us out to Big Oil."
Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity, which supports cases against polluters, also ripped the federal filing.
"This is a desperate effort to shield the architects of Big Oil's decadeslong climate deception from facing accountability," said Wiles. "Big Oil and the Trump administration are clearly terrified that Minnesota's lawsuit will reveal exactly how these defendants defrauded the public about the dangers of fossil fuels. Federal courts dismissed the Trump administration's last two attempts to stop states from taking Big Oil companies to court. This naked political intimidation tactic should meet the same fate."
Trump was backed by Big Oil during the 2024 election and campaigned on a promise to "drill, baby, drill." Since returning to office, he's aimed to serve industry interests in a range of ways, including last year's executive order directing the US attorney general to protect "American energy from state overreach."
The Justice Department noted in its Monday statement that last year, its Environment and Natural Resources Division "filed complaints against Hawaii, Michigan, New York, and Vermont to stop those states' unconstitutional climate actions."
Dozens of state and local governments have filed cases similar to Ellison's in Minnesota. The US Supreme Court is preparing to hear arguments related to one from Colorado that dates back to 2018: Suncor Energy Inc. v. County Commissioners of Boulder County.
Meanwhile, Trump and Big Oil's allies in Congress are also working to protect polluters. Last month, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) introduced a bill that, if passed, would "prohibit liability against those engaged in the mining, extraction, production, refinement, transportation, distribution, marketing, manufacture, or sale of energy for damages or injunctive or other relief from the use of their products, and for other purposes."
Wiles noted at the time that "Big Oil companies have raked in massive profits at the pump while lying to the American people about the catastrophic harm of their products, and now they want to deny Americans their rightful day in court and stick taxpayers with the bill for the mess they made."
"If fossil fuel companies have done nothing wrong," he asked, "why do they need immunity?"
Just weeks after the Minnesota Supreme Court allowed the state's climate deception lawsuit against the fossil fuel industry to move into discovery, President Donald Trump's Department of Justice took action in federal court on Monday to block the case.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison first sued the American Petroleum Institute, ExxonMobil, Koch Industries, and its subsidiary Flint Hills Resources in state court for orchestrating and executing a "campaign of deception" regarding the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency "with disturbing success" in 2020.
The industry has been fighting to kill the case since then, and the DOJ on Monday filed a complaint in the District of Minnesota against both the state and Ellison. In a related statement, Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward declared that "President Trump promised to unleash American energy dominance, and Minnesota officials cannot undermine his directive by mandating that their woke climate preferences become the uniform policy of our nation."
"Minnesota's attempt to impose a national regulation on global greenhouse gas emissions not only is preempted by federal law, but also undermines affordable and reliable American energy, weakening the national and economic security of the United States," Woodward continued, summarizing the argument made in the new federal filing.
While the fossil fuel entities targeted by Minnesota welcomed the Trump DOJ's intervention, Ellison made clear that he was undeterred.
"In 2020, I sued Big Oil for lying to Minnesotans about the true causes of climate change, then sticking us with the bill for the harms it is causing," Ellison said. "Six years later, we are still waiting to go to trial because Big Oil has pulled every procedural trick in the book to delay facing the consequences of their unlawful actions."
"This frivolous and meritless lawsuit is just their latest attempt to hide from accountability, and I will move to have it dismissed immediately," he pledged. "The American people deserve a Department of Justice that fights for us, and it's a tremendous shame that Trump's DOJ would rather sell us out to Big Oil."
Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity, which supports cases against polluters, also ripped the federal filing.
"This is a desperate effort to shield the architects of Big Oil's decadeslong climate deception from facing accountability," said Wiles. "Big Oil and the Trump administration are clearly terrified that Minnesota's lawsuit will reveal exactly how these defendants defrauded the public about the dangers of fossil fuels. Federal courts dismissed the Trump administration's last two attempts to stop states from taking Big Oil companies to court. This naked political intimidation tactic should meet the same fate."
Trump was backed by Big Oil during the 2024 election and campaigned on a promise to "drill, baby, drill." Since returning to office, he's aimed to serve industry interests in a range of ways, including last year's executive order directing the US attorney general to protect "American energy from state overreach."
The Justice Department noted in its Monday statement that last year, its Environment and Natural Resources Division "filed complaints against Hawaii, Michigan, New York, and Vermont to stop those states' unconstitutional climate actions."
Dozens of state and local governments have filed cases similar to Ellison's in Minnesota. The US Supreme Court is preparing to hear arguments related to one from Colorado that dates back to 2018: Suncor Energy Inc. v. County Commissioners of Boulder County.
Meanwhile, Trump and Big Oil's allies in Congress are also working to protect polluters. Last month, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) introduced a bill that, if passed, would "prohibit liability against those engaged in the mining, extraction, production, refinement, transportation, distribution, marketing, manufacture, or sale of energy for damages or injunctive or other relief from the use of their products, and for other purposes."
Wiles noted at the time that "Big Oil companies have raked in massive profits at the pump while lying to the American people about the catastrophic harm of their products, and now they want to deny Americans their rightful day in court and stick taxpayers with the bill for the mess they made."
"If fossil fuel companies have done nothing wrong," he asked, "why do they need immunity?"
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