The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is suing the state of Minnesota for attempting to regulate global greenhouse gas emissions, arguing that it is impeding the U.S.’s energy policy agenda.
“The case we filed against Minnesota today is an attempt to rein in another unconstitutional state effort to invade an area of exclusive federal control,” DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division’s (ENRD) Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson stated. “It is in America’s interest to have independent and secure sources of energy. Minnesota’s attempted overreach would undermine our economic and national security to advance the climate agenda of politicians and activists.”
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, accuses the state of attempting to usurp the exclusive federal authority of domestic energy development by suing energy companies in state court.
DOJ claims that Minnesota is attempting to enjoin energy companies from engaging in global energy production, in turn, preventing them from generating profit.
Citing Judge David Stras of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, the DOJ press release affirms that such efforts to “set national energy policy” and “change the companies’ behavior on a global scale” are “beyond the limits of state law.”
“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,” Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said. “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.”
According to the DOJ, Minnesota’s efforts are preempted by the U.S. Constitution and the Clean Air Act of 1963.
Similarly, DOJ’s ENRD has also filed complaints against Hawaii, Michigan, New York, and Vermont to stop the “states’ unconstitutional climate actions.”
