Press Releases
January 13, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As communities across the U.S. get closer to putting Big Oil companies on trial for deceiving the public about their role in the climate crisis, the American Petroleum Institute, the nation’s largest oil and gas trade association, said today that one of its top 2026 priorities is to stop “state climate lawsuits.”
The declaration comes after numerous news outlets have reported that the fossil fuel industry has been lobbying Congress for immunity from climate accountability lawsuits filed by 11 attorneys general and dozens of municipal and tribal governments across the U.S.
Last year, 16 Republican attorneys general proposed creating a “liability shield” for fossil fuel companies modeled on a 2005 law protecting gun manufacturers from lawsuits. State-level immunity bills for the fossil fuel industry have already been introduced this year in Utah and Oklahoma as part of the larger coordinated effort to strip communities of their right to take Big Oil to court.
Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity, released the following statement:
“Big Oil is openly asking Congress for a ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ card because fossil fuel companies are desperate to avoid facing the evidence of their climate lies in court.
“Congress must make clear that any proposal to strip Americans of their right to hold corporations accountable for the damage they cause when they lie to the public about the harms of their products will be dead on arrival.
“No matter your politics, we should all agree that no industry should be above the law.”
Background on U.S. Climate Accountability Lawsuits Against Big Oil:
Ten U.S. states — California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai`i, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont — and the District of Columbia, along with dozens of city, county, and tribal governments in California, Colorado, Hawai`i, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Puerto Rico, have active lawsuits to hold major oil and gas companies accountable for deceiving the public about their products’ role in climate change. These cases collectively represent more than 1 in 4 people living in the United States. The attorney general of Michigan has also announced plans to take fossil fuel companies to court.
Big Oil companies are currently asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Colorado Supreme Court ruling that allowed a climate deception lawsuit against ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy to advance toward discovery and trial. The high court has turned down the last six requests to review lower courts rulings in the cases.
Boulder is one of a growing number of communities across the U.S. — including Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, the District of Columbia, and the states of Massachusetts, Vermont, Minnesota and Connecticut — whose climate deception lawsuits against Big Oil companies are advancing toward discovery and trial after courts denied the companies’ motions to dismiss them.