Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel alleges in a federal antitrust lawsuit filed Friday that oil giants are working as a “cartel” to slow the growth of renewable energy and electric vehicles.
The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan claims companies including Chevron, Exxon and BP have colluded against the development of electric vehicles and solar energy in order to maximize oil profits for as long as possible. The complaint depicts a decades-long, multi-faceted conspiracy ranging from impeding the development of EV charging networks, funding misleading academic research and school curricula, and suppressing patented technology that could accelerate the replacement of fossil fuels with cleaner alternatives.
“Although Defendants were competitors in the market, they collaborated on these campaigns to stifle public knowledge about the existential harms of their products,” said the complaint. “Collectively, these efforts were maintained to maximize sales and profit from fossil fuel consumption and delay the transition to renewable energy substitutes.”
In a statement sent out by her office, Nessel said the damage caused by energy companies acting in concert to control the energy market is sweeping.
“Whether you own a home, a small business, or run a large corporation, rising energy and transportation costs harm everyone,” Nessel said in a written statement. “These out-of-control costs are not the result of natural economic inflation, but due to the greed of these corporations who prioritized their own profit and marketplace dominance over competition and consumer savings.”
She said the petroleum industry’s tactics are similar to those employed by tobacco companies to cover up the risks of smoking.
A spokesperson for the American Petroleum Institute, an industry organization that is also named in the lawsuit, blasted the legal action.
“These baseless lawsuits are a coordinated campaign against an industry that powers everyday life, drives America’s economy, and is actively reducing emissions,” said API Senior Vice President and General Counsel Ryan Meyers. “We continue to believe that energy policy belongs in Congress, not a patchwork of courtrooms.”
