Minnesota Supreme Court turns back oil industry defendants’ request to further delay climate-deception lawsuit

Supreme Court upholds lower courts’ denial of defendants’ motions to dismiss AG Ellison’s 2020 lawsuit against them; ruling clears the way for case to proceed to discovery

April 17, 2026 (SAINT PAUL) —  On Wednesday April 15, the Minnesota Supreme Court denied a petition for review submitted by ExxonMobil, Koch Industries, and the American Petroleum Institute after they failed to get Attorney General Keith Ellison’s climate deception lawsuit against them dismissed in both the District Court and the Court of Appeals. Attorney General Ellison first sued the defendants in June 2020 for deceiving and defrauding Minnesotans about the true causes of climate change and leaving them with the bill. The Supreme Court’s ruling clears the way for this lawsuit to finally proceed to discovery after years of fruitless delay tactics from the defendants.

“The courts are doing their job, and their decisions in this climate deception lawsuit are clear: Minnesotans have a case to be made, and we deserve our day in court,” said Attorney General Keith Ellison. “As we have said all along, our taxpayers should not be on the hook for the enormous financial costs of surviving the climate impacts resulting from these defendants’ deceptive conduct. Onward to discovery and trial.”

In their motions to dismiss, ExxonMobil, Koch Industries, and the American Petroleum Institute argued that they were not subject to the jurisdiction of Minnesota courts and were being unfairly targeted for political activity. In February 2025, Ramsey County District Court rejected these arguments and denied their motions to dismiss, and in January 2026, the Court of Appeals upheld the District Court. This week the Minnesota Supreme Court has now declined to hear any further appeals on these arguments.  Wednesday’s ruling clears the way for this case to finally proceed to discovery.

This was the latest round of delay tactics in which the Big Oil defendants have engaged in order to avoid accountability for deceiving Minnesotans. After Attorney General Ellison first filed the lawsuit in state court in June 2020, the defendants removed it to federal court. In March 2021, the federal district court ruled the case belongs in state court. The defendants appealed and in March 2023, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the federal district court’s ruling that the lawsuit should return to state court. The defendants again appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court and in January 2024, the Supreme Court declined to hear their appeal.