Press Releases
October 15, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new poll shows a significant increase in public opposition to proposals to grant legal immunity to large oil and gas corporations for their contribution to the climate crisis — which the industry is actively pushing for in Congress and state legislatures across the country.
Last week Data For Progress released a poll gauging voter attitudes toward America’s home insurance affordability crisis, and oil and gas companies' role in driving rising costs for policyholders. It found 75% of voters — including more than two-thirds of Republican voters — “oppose legal immunity for oil and gas companies, shielding them from being held accountable for climate disaster damages.”
A Data For Progress poll asking a similar question in May found 65% opposition to Big Oil immunity — that’s a 10% shift in six months. Public attention on the issue is growing as the fossil fuel industry seeks to escape accountability in multiple venues:
Big Oil is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to halt the city and county of Boulder’s climate deception lawsuit against two oil companies — a move that could have implications for dozens of similar cases across the country. Justices heard oral arguments in the case earlier this month and had skeptical questions about Big Oil’s arguments to stop the case before it goes to trial.
Big Oil allies have introduced a bill in Congress that would grant the industry sweeping legal protections against any laws or lawsuits that aim to hold them accountable for their role in the climate crisis. The bill failed to pass out of the House Judiciary Committee in September but could reemerge in the upcoming “lame duck” session of Congress.
The effort is on at the state level too. The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is pushing model bills that would take away peoples’ right to file lawsuits against oil giants, and ban cities and counties from passing laws aimed at making Big Oil pay its fair share of the growing costs of climate change. Similar bills passed in Utah, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Iowa earlier this year. An investigation by ProPublica found that the effort is being aided by right wing groups tied to prominent conservative activist Leonard Leo.
Iyla Shornstein, Political Director at the Center for Climate Integrity, issued the following statement:
“Big Oil is desperate to secure legal immunity and escape accountability for its role in the climate crisis — and the billions of dollars of damages that have followed. These poll results show that Americans across the political spectrum are opposed to putting Big Oil above the law.”
Background on U.S. Climate Accountability Lawsuits Against Big Oil:
Eleven U.S. states — California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai`i, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont — and the District of Columbia, two tribal governments, and dozens of municipal governments 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.
Background on Big Oil’s push for immunity
The oil and gas industry and its allies have been lobbying Congress and the Trump administration for more than a year to escape accountability. 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. In January, the American Petroleum Institute announced that killing state climate lawsuits is a top 2026 priority for the oil lobby.
A growing number of states have passed state-level laws that aim to shield fossil fuel companies from legal accountability, which ProPublica reported are “part of a coordinated effort by groups linked to right-wing activist Leonard Leo.” The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) approved a model bill in August that would provide fossil fuel companies with a “liability shield” and “immunity from climate change claims.”
Background on opposition to Big Oil immunity
This summer, more than 390 groups and 135,000 members of the public urged members of Congress to reject the proposed legislation as part of the nationwide “No Immunity for Big Oil” campaign. Ten U.S. governors, 21 state attorneys general and local officials, and the National Association of Counties have also voiced their opposition. House Judiciary Democrats, in a statement from Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD), have pledged to “defeat” the measures, which Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and a growing number of Democrats have publicly opposed.