Supreme Court Deals Big Blow to Big Oil: Climate Change Claims Stay Local, Raising the Heat on Polluters.
On Monday 8 January 2024, the United States (US) Supreme Court denied an appeal by the top US oil lobbying firm, the American Petroleum Institute, fossil fuel company ExxonMobil, and Koch Industries.
These energy industry companies were sued in 2020 by the State of Minnesota, accusing them of causing harm to the climate by misleading the public about the threat of climate change, and the contribution of their respective products and services.
The defendants had appealed a decision[1] by the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that this case (State v. American Petroleum Institute) should be dealt with in a state court, rather than in federal court. Due to the Supreme Court’s denial, the case will now be sent back to the Minnesota state court.
Recently, the Supreme Court also rejected similar appeals in cases that originated in California, Colorado, Rhode Island, Hawaii, and Maryland. The Colorado case took place less than a year ago, where ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron, Suncor Energy, and others had appealed to the Supreme Court to have their case moved from the Colorado state court to a federal court.
The argument used by the fossil fuel companies is that climate change is a global issue that is (indirectly) government by federal energy policy, which should be dealt with in a federal court. However, in federal courts, the claims that can be brought by states and other claimants are much more limited.
The Supreme Court’s repeated denials to appeals of this kind have now opened a path for climate claims in state courts.
[1] Minnesota by Ellison v. Am. Petroleum Inst., 63 F.4th 703 (8th Cir. 2023)
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