The federal government is suing the state of Minnesota in an attempt to block a lawsuit the state filed against several major oil companies over claims they mislead the public about the impacts of climate change, FOX 9 reported Monday. The Department of Justice is accusing the state of overreach in attempting to “regulate global greenhouse gas emissions,” according to a DOJ press release.
The state of Minnesota accused the American Petroleum Institute, ExxonMobil, Koch Industries and Minnesota-based Flint Hills Resources of strategizing to “deceive the public about climate-change science in order to safeguard their business interests” in a lawsuit filed in 2020.
“This frivolous and meritless lawsuit is just their latest attempt to hide from accountability, and I will move to have it dismissed immediately,” Ellison told FOX 9. “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.”
Related: A wrongful-death lawsuit against oil companies and the growing movement against ‘ecocide’
In more news, the former chief of the Metro Transit Police Department, Ernest Morales III, is now barred from serving as a police officer in Minnesota after he surrendered his peace officer license following an investigation that concluded he engaged in sexual harassment at work and failed to self-report his behavior, KARE 11 reported Sunday. Morales denies the allegations.
Little Earth, the only Native-preference Section 8 housing project in the country, is undergoing an extensive two-year, $50 million renovation including new roofs, better insulation and updated appliances for all 212 units, Sahan Journal reported Monday.
“It shows that our people are cared for, they’re cared about, that their safety is important to us, that we want to make sure that our people have better than decent living conditions,” Joe Beaulieu, executive director of Little Earth Residents Association, told the Journal.
In her first press conference since announcing her campaign for governor in January, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar distanced herself from Gov. Tim Walz, telling reporters she would conduct a comprehensive audit of state government on Day 1 if elected, the Minnesota Reformer reported Sunday.
Related: Immigration courts are hiding behind locked doors, closed video conferencing, according to Minnesota suit
“They’re going to have to ferret out any fraud that still remains and root it out and make sure those people go to jail,” Klobuchar said. “But it is more than that … We want to make sure we’re taking care of the taxpayers’ money, that we are spending that money wisely on things that people need and making things as efficient as possible.”
Populations of zebra mussels and other invasive species in Minnesota lakes have declined significantly since 2014, when the state began providing $10 million per year for counties to work with local partners on prevention measures. But with funding scheduled to decrease by 50% beginning July 2027, Minnesota lakes associations worry infestations will pick up again after years of decline, KNSI reported Monday.
