HEADLINE: “What's Wrong with Michigan? Maybe It's the Trial Lawyers?”, By Kyle Kohli THOMAS J SHEPSTONE
“Michigan voters chose Donald Trump for President at least twice, yet they’ve also elected Gretchen Whitmer and Dana Nessel, two totally leftist leaders, the former as Governor and latter as AG…”
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What's Wrong with Michigan? Maybe It's the Trial Lawyers?
JUN 22
Michigan voters chose Donald Trump for President at least twice, yet they’ve also elected Gretchen Whitmer and Dana Nessel, two totally leftist leaders, the former as Governor and the latter as Attorney General. We’ve covered the latter numerous times, including yesterday, regarding her attack on Trump’s team for blocking closure of a coal plant essential to MISO grid security.
Nessel is a climate cultist because being in the leftist tribe demands that sort of thing, of course. And, she is 100% committed despite the threat climate madness poses for the Wolverine State's auto industry. EID’s Kyle Kohli explains in an article a few days ago:
In a move that should raise eyebrows across Michigan’s energy and business sectors, Attorney General Dana Nessel is throwing her full weight behind a legislative proposal that would dramatically expand her office’s reach under the Michigan Consumer Protection Act (MCPA).
Senate Bill 134 would amend the state’s consumer protection statute and hand Nessel broader authority to sue licensed, regulated businesses – like energy, transportation, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing, even if they’re already overseen by state or federal agencies. Nessel claims it’s about “consumer protection,” but make no mistake: this is about consolidating power and sidestepping regulatory safeguards that exist for good reason.
And, it seems like Nessel is pursuing all roads to expand her power. While she lobbies lawmakers to rewrite the law, she is also trying to achieve the same end-run around regulatory limits through the courts in a case currently before the Michigan Supreme Court.
For industries like energy, which operate under stringent oversight and are already in Nessel’s sights, SB 134 is more than a policy tweak, it’s a new legal lever in her anti-industry agenda – one that will allow her to bypass the legislature, ignore regulatory agencies, and target energy producers under the broad umbrella of “consumer protection.”
The bill barely squeaked through the state senate last week on a party line 19-18 vote and now heads to the House, where the slim Republican majority will have to make a choice: stand with Michigan’s job creators or hand the Attorney General sweeping new powers to regulate by lawsuit.
At the heart of the bill is a reversal of a decades-long precedent limiting the AG’s ability to use the state’s consumer protection statute against industries with their own regulatory agencies. SB 134 would erase those protections, opening the door to duplicative enforcement, politicized investigations, and legal fishing expeditions.
Business groups have come out strongly in opposition to the bill. The Michigan Chamber of Commerce warned the bill is brewing a “legal storm” that would open the floodgates to lawsuits against virtually every regulated business in the state – from doctors and banks to utilities and auto dealers.
General Motors, one of Michigan’s largest employers, argued the bill is unjustified and duplicative as businesses are already heavily regulated and overseen by state and federal agencies.
And the Michigan chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) said it plainly:
“Given the regulation and oversight that already exist, those benefiting most from SB 134 are trial lawyers, not consumers.” (emphasis added)
Nessel isn’t the first Democratic Attorney General to try this ploy. In 2023, California AG Bonta sponsored AB 1366, allowing the California AG’s office to pursue “disgorgement of profits” in consumer protection cases. Though Bonta cited used car dealerships when selling lawmakers on the bill, so far, he has onlyused his newly granted powers against fossil fuel companies.
And while Nessel similarly cited deceptive sales contracts at car dealerships as justification for the bill, the underlying impact may be more strategic. If passed, SB 134 would make it easier for her office to file a broad lawsuit against oil and natural gas companies, which are tightly regulated both at the state and federal level to ensure lawful conduct, as Legal Newsline explained:
“Dozens of cases by government officials allied with private lawyers seeking jackpots say companies like Exxon and Chevron violated consumer protection laws by misleading the public into using more fossil fuels than they would have had they known of climate dangers.
“But judges have said their practices are covered by national law regulating the international energy market.”
While Nessel weighs her options, similar climate lawsuits brought by the State of New Jersey; Bucks County, Pennsylvania; New York City; and Annapolis and Anne Arundel, Maryland have been dismissed by state court judges.
Bottom Line: AG Nessel is dead-set on expanding her office’s power to wage war against businesses legally operating in the state of Michigan. But lawmakers should think twice before granting unchecked authority to an office that has shown a clear willingness to pursue ideological goals at the expense of balanced policy.
It's appropriate that Kohli emphasized the true beneficiaries of the legislation Nessel is pushing. She was twice endorsed for Attorney General (in 2018 and 2022) by the Michigan Association for Justice (formerly the Michigan Trial Lawyers Association). They gave her $50,000 in campaign donations, being one of her top 1o contributors.
So, we see how it all works…
BOTTOMLINE: “It's appropriate that Kohli emphasized the true beneficiaries of the legislation Nessel is pushing. She was twice endorsed for Attorney General (in 2018 and 2022) by the Michigan Association for Justice (formerly the Michigan Trial Lawyers Association). They gave her $50,000 in campaign donations, being one of her top 1o contributors.”
The only path I see to correct this madness of minority groups with low Energy IQ but high Green motivation for magic electrons from “Hopium” , is to educate the public, aka voters on the true facts. A heavy lift, who would fund such a campaign? I have written to several Bulk Power producers with no response. Energy is the Economy…..Energy Independence is the path to continuing prosperity and freedom. In my view, the Democrats in MI and all across the U.S. have a greater interest in China’s success than in America’s.