Maryland communities score a big win against Big Oil on the path to trial

Communities suing Big Oil have once again triumphed over the companies’ attempts to evade accountability after a Maryland judge ruled last week that Annapolis and Anne Arundel County’s lawsuits can continue to move toward discovery and trial. The city and county are seeking to make ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, BP, and other oil and gas corporations pay their fair share of climate damages fueled by the industry’s products and deception.

Maryland Judge Steven Platt denied several of the fossil fuel companies’ arguments to have the lawsuits against them dismissed and deferred other arguments to be decided at a later stage in state court, during which Maryland communities may finally see their demands for accountability realized. 

“Mitigating the impacts of climate change is expensive. We would not have to spend the kind of money we are forced to spend but for the actions of the fossil fuel industry,” Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley said when the city’s lawsuit was filed in 2021. “This lawsuit shifts the costs back to where they belong, on those whose knowledge, deception and pursuit of profits brought these dangers to our shores.”

The judge granted just one of the 15 arguments oil companies made in their attempt to dodge the lawsuits. Platt ruled that because defendant American Petroleum Institute — the largest U.S. trade association for oil and gas companies — does not sell oil and gas but rather advocates for the industry, the association’s climate deception does not fall under the state’s consumer protection laws. However, Platt suggested that the American Petroleum Institute could be considered a member of a conspiracy and allowed Maryland communities 30 days to amend their complaint to include a conspiracy charge.  

Several other climate accountability lawsuits, such as cases from the City of Baltimore and the State of New Jersey, have also argued against similar motions to dismiss the cases from fossil fuel companies and are awaiting rulings. Despite the oil industry’s repeated efforts to derail and dismiss climate accountability cases brought by communities throughout the country, the cases have withstood legal challenges again and again and continue to move closer to trial. 

“This is an important milestone in these cases, and we are now heading to discovery,” Annapolis City Attorney D. Michael Lyles said following the ruling last week. “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. Now we intend to prove it in court.”