April 15 (Reuters) – A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed a Trump administration lawsuit seeking to stop Hawaii from \u200bsuing fossil fuel companies in state court over \u200cclimate change, citing a \u201clongstanding\u201d policy against federal intervention in state court processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The dismissal by U.S. District Judge Helen Gillmor in Honolulu \u200bmarks the second time in 2026 that federal \u200bcourts have blocked the U.S. Department of Justice\u2019s \u2060efforts to head off climate change suits in state \u200bcourts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A different federal judge in January threw out a similar suit \u200bthat sought to block the state of Michigan from suing major oil companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Neither the Justice Department nor the Hawaii Attorney General\u2019s \u200boffice immediately provided comment Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Justice Department sued both \u200bHawaii and Michigan in April of 2025, seeking to stop them from \u200cfiling \u2060planned lawsuits against major oil companies over climate change, cases the administration said would imperil domestic energy production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A day after that suit was filed, Hawaii sued various \u200bfossil fuel companies \u200bincluding BP, \u2060Chevron, ExxonMobil and Shell for allegedly selling products the companies knew would warm the \u200bplanet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gillmor ruled that the Justice Department lacked standing \u200bto \u2060sue Hawaii because its case was too speculative. The Justice Department\u2019s \u201cattempt to predict the outcome of a yet-to-be-filed lawsuit \u2060and \u200bhow it could possibly injure the \u200bfederal government in the future is not a concrete injury-in-fact,\u201d Gillmor wrote \u200bin her opinion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n