News & Analysis
February 13, 2026
A member of Congress said this week that she is crafting federal legislation that would put Big Oil above the law over its role in the climate crisis. The comments from U.S. House Representative Harriet Hageman (R-WY) follow an escalating campaign from Big Oil lobbyists and industry allies to block the growing number of lawsuits that aim to hold the industry accountable for its decades of climate deception.
Representative Hageman told Attorney General Pam Bondi at a hearing that the growing wave of climate accountability lawsuits from communities across the country pose a threat to the fossil fuel industry and likened them to the successful lawsuits against Big Tobacco, calling the efforts “tobacco litigation on steroids.”
“Multiple climate lawsuits are now advancing toward trial,” Representative Hageman said. “Clearly this is an area in which Congress has a role to play. To that end, I am working with my colleagues in both the House and Senate to craft legislation tackling both these state laws and the lawsuits.”
Hageman told E&E News that the legislation would be a “form of preemption” against climate accountability measures. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) — who has made farcical attacks on the lawsuits against Big Oil — told the outlet he would also be open to the proposal.
Nearly 200 organizations, including CCI, have urged Democratic leaders in Congress to oppose any form of a legal shield for the oil and gas industry, calling on leaders to “ensure both justice today and the right of future generations to hold polluters responsible for decades of deception.” The National Association of Counties, a group representing more than 3,000 counties, also called on Congress to reject legal immunity for Big Oil, passing a resolution opposing “any legislation that would limit or preempt counties’ access to courts or give companies immunity from lawsuits over damages and costs.”
“As communities across the U.S. move closer to putting Big Oil companies on trial to make them pay for the damage their climate lies have caused, the fossil fuel industry is panicking and pleading with Congress for a get-out-of-jail-free card,” CCI President Richard Wiles said. “Let’s be clear: you don’t need immunity unless you are in fact responsible for the damages claimed in these lawsuits. A liability shield for Big Oil would bar the courthouse doors for communities across the country and stick U.S. taxpayers with the massive and growing bill for climate damages, while bailing out corporate polluters from having to pay for the mess they made.”
Big Oil and its allies in the Trump administration have been working to protect the fossil fuel industry from climate accountability efforts for months. Following a meeting fossil fuel CEOs had with President Trump last year, the U.S. Justice Department sued multiple states for laws and planned lawsuits aiming to hold polluters accountable for their climate lies and damages. Additionally, 16 Republican attorneys general have called for a legal liability shield for Big Oil modeled after the 2005 law that granted legal immunity to gun manufacturers. At the local level, state bills aimed at blocking communities from pursuing any accountability measures against the fossil fuel industry have already been introduced in Utah and Oklahoma. The biggest oil lobbying group, the American Petroleum Institute, announced that stopping state climate lawsuits is a priority for the oil and gas trade association in 2026.
A growing number of groups, elected officials, and community members are calling on Congress to oppose any efforts to put Big Oil above the law. Sign the national petition telling Congress No Immunity for Big Oil.
