News & Analysis
July 6, 2026
Twenty-one attorneys general and legal representatives from states, counties, municipalities, and tribes suing Big Oil companies for lying about their role in the climate crisis are calling on Congress to protect their legal right to hold fossil fuel companies accountable in court.
In a letter sent last week to ranking members of the House and Senate, more than a dozen legal officials urged Congress to reject a federal proposal that would block any laws or lawsuits aiming to hold oil companies accountable for their role in the climate crisis. The signees included attorneys general from California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaiʻi, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Rhode Island, as well as a representative from the Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe and legal counsel from communities in California, Illinois, New York, and Oregon.
“This legislation would undermine states’, tribes’, and municipalities’ well-established authority to enforce their own laws to protect the health and safety of their residents,” the letter states. “States, tribes, and municipalities have the right to utilize state laws to hold wrongdoers accountable in many industries.”
The letter came days after ten governors across the country also called on Congress to reject the recently introduced legislation, arguing that the proposal would “trample on the rights of states and citizens.” Congressional leaders also received a petition with more than 135,000 signatures, urging legislators to oppose legal immunity for Big Oil.
“No one is above the law,” the legal officials wrote. “Opposing this legislation ensures that this fundamental principle of democracy remains intact.”
A growing number of members of Congress have said they will oppose any proposal to put Big Oil above the law. Visit NoImmunityforBigOil.org to see if your Representative or Senator is one of them.
