There is extensive climate change litigation throughout the world and in the US.
So far, none of this litigation has reached the Supreme Court although it is getting closer.
As of September 11,2024, 86 lawsuits have been filed against the world’s largest oil, gas, and coal producing corporations, of which 50 have been brought in the US. Three categories of lawsuits have grown significantly in recent years: compensation for climate damages (38 percent of cases); misleading advertising claims (16 percent); and emissions reduction (12 percent).
As of April 2024, in the US, there are 32 state and local government lawsuits set to stand trial. The lawsuits cite extensive news reporting — including investigations by the Los Angeles Times and Inside Climate News — showing that oil companies’ own research projected the dangers of climate change decades ago, even as the industry tried to undermine scientific consensus about the crisis. Oil companies have long sought to move such cases to federal court, where they believe national regulations such as the Clean Air Act could supersede local governments’ claims against them. But a string of circuit court and U.S. Supreme Court decisions have ruled that the cases alleging violations of state laws belong in state court, finally clearing the way for jury trials.
Exxon Mobil is, in particular, facing a wave of lawsuits driven in large part by revelations which began surfacing in 2015. These revelations indicated that the climate crisis was not the result of blind error, or even willful ignorance, but rather calculated abuses of power. Exxon had conducted scientific studies that showed the warming effect of carbon emissions and predicted the dire consequences of climate change, before spending millions on misinformation to derail regulation and solidify international dependence on fossil fuels.
States like Massachusetts and New York have both sued Exxon for fraud and California weighed in most recently in 2023 and 2024. The Massachusetts lawsuit has moved past oil companies’ motions for dismissal and reached the pretrial discovery phase, when both sides exchange information. Cities like San Francisco, New York City, Richmond and others have filed suits for damages from climate change against companies like Chevron, BP, Shell, and ConocoPhillips in addition to Exxon.
A closely watched case highlighted in a recent report is Honolulu’s lawsuit accusing major oil and gas companies of “deliberately concealing and misrepresenting the climate-change impacts of their fossil fuel products.”
So far, no oil and gas company has had to pay liability for damages associated with climate change.
In March, 2023, the Biden administration filed a brief in support of local governments in Colorado arguing that the Supreme Court should not step into that state dispute. In response, on April 5, in a filing with the Supreme Court, attorneys for Exxon Mobil Corp. and Suncor Energy Inc. sharply criticized the Biden administration for siding with local governments in their lawsuits against oil majors.
Not so far. In 2023, the Supreme Court declined to hear bids by Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N), Suncor Energy Inc (SU.TO), Chevron Corp (CVX.N) and others to move lawsuits filed by state and local governments accusing the oil companies of worsening climate change out of state courts and into federal courts. This was a blow to the oil companies because state courts are typically more favorable to plaintiffs than federal courts, forcing the oil companies to go to trial.
Despite the companies’ protests, the Supreme Court’s decision not to weigh in extended to similar cases in California, Hawaii, and Rhode Island and means that other climate liability lawsuits have a more direct path to trial. The state-level case has yet to be decided.
One result: On June 24, 2024, Judge Robert R. Gunning, a district court judge hearing the case in Boulder, Colorado rejected requests from both companies to dismiss the lawsuit. His ruling will allow the case to proceed, setting the stage for a trial that will consider whether fossil fuel companies should pay some of the costs related to climate-related disasters like floods and wildfires.
Whether the cases are heard under federal or state law does matters. The cities and states bringing these cases believe they are more likely to win under state law. The oil companies and their lawyers believe they will fare better under federal law.
Zero Carbon Analytics has an extremely detailed analysis, with great charts, of these litigations here.
The landmark case of Juliana v. US, brought by 21 young people in 2015, argues that the federal government’s duty to serve as a trustee of resources extends to the atmosphere, and that it had thus failed in that constitutional duty. Their complaint asserts that, through the government's affirmative actions causing climate change, it has violated the youngest generation’s constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property, as well as failed to protect essential public trust resources. . Still unresolved, a full and fascinating history of this litigation can be found on our JULIANA V. U.S page here.
Yes, in several states with one recent significant win in Hawaii. On June 20, 2024, the 13 youth plaintiffs reached a landmark agreement to fully decarbonize Hawaii’s transportation system by 2045.
Much more about these cases on our YOUTH/TAKE ACTION/THROUGH JUDICIAL ACTION page.
Climate change is not just an environmental issue; it’s a social justice issue, too. It is important to recognize that the people most affected by climate change are often those who have contributed least to its progression. People are recognizing that environmental mismanagement and obstruction of climate action are an infringement on their rights.
As Amy Westervelt writes for Drilled, one crucial factor that makes climate litigation so important is discovery, or the “fact-finding phase of civil litigation” when “lawyers can access primary documents, depose current and former employees and executives, and generally get a whole bunch of information they couldn’t previously access.” This is incredibly threatening to oil companies. Check out this informative podcast season from Drilled exploring one climate litigation case against 30 fossil fuel companies.
CREDIT: 350.org
