(Adds Chevron's statement in paragraph 5.)
A US federal judge dismissed Michigan's antitrust lawsuit accusing major oil companies of colluding to suppress renewable energy and electric vehicles, ruling the alleged market connection as too distant to grant monetary relief, several media outlets reported on Tuesday.
Judge Jane Beckering for the Court for the Western District of Michigan ruled against the state's allegations that petroleum giants colluded to suppress competition from renewable primary energy technologies and electric vehicles.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel had argued that the corporate defendants operated an unlawful conspiracy to protect fossil fuel market dominance, which artificially inflated consumer costs, according to the reports.
Meanwhile, major oil companies including BP (BP), Chevron (CVX), Exxon Mobil (XOM), and Shell (SHEL) continue to successfully defend against a wave of multi-state lawsuits attempting to pin historical climate and transition costs onto traditional energy producers, the reports added.
"This decision adds to the growing list of federal and state courts that have dismissed climate lawsuits. These climate suits are baseless no matter plaintiffs' attempts to concoct new litigation theories, like these meritless antitrust claims," a counsel for Chevron stated in an email to.
Judge Beckering said that the distance between the alleged market conspiracy and direct retail overcharges was too attenuated to establish legal proximate cause, as per the reports.
None of the energy majors apart from Chevron involved in the lawsuit or Michigan attorney general's office responded immediately to' request for comments.
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