Yesterday, in Michigan v. BP, a federal district court in Michigan dismissed the state's ambitious antitrust suit against fossil fuel companies alleging that they had conspired to suppress alternative energy sources resulting, among other things, in higher prices for Michigan consumers. While the same court had previously rejected the Trump Administration's attempt to preempt Michigan's suit, once confronted with the merits of the suit it found Michigan's claims wanting.
Both decisions seem correct to me. There was no legal basis upon which to prevent Michigan from filing suit against fossil fuel companies, but the suit that Michigan ultimately filed deserved to fail on its own terms. Michigan's theory was clever, but perhaps too clever to survive any meaningful legal scrutiny. As the Court explained, "Michigan seeks an antitrust remedy for many harms that do not qualify as
antitrust injuries," and that's not something the antitrust laws allow.
Here is a summary from yesterday's decision:
