Four Federal Appeals Courts Have Now Handed Major Losses to Fossil Fuel Companies After the U.S. Supreme Court Ordered Expanded Review of Big Oil’s Arguments for Federal Jurisdiction in Climate Accountability Lawsuits
Press Releases
May 23, 2022
Rhode Island — In the latest victory for communities seeking to hold major oil and gas companies accountable for the costs of climate damages they knowingly caused, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit today ruled that Rhode Island’s lawsuit against 21 fossil fuel corporations — including ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron, and Shell — can proceed in state court, where it was originally filed.
The First Circuit decision marks the fourth time this year that a federal appeals court has rejected an expanded list of arguments from the oil industry to move climate liability lawsuits filed in state court to federal court following a 2021 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. The First Circuit previously ruled in favor of Rhode Island in 2020.
At least ten federal district courts — including U.S. District Judge William E. Smith in Rhode Island —have similarly ruled that climate accountability lawsuits filed in state court belong in state court — “a batting average of .000” for the fossil fuel industry, in the words of one judge.
In response, Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity, released the following statement:
“The ruling is a major victory for Rhode Island, which is now one step closer to putting oil and gas corporations on trial for fueling the climate crisis, lying about it, and then sticking the state’s taxpayers with the bill for the damages.
“Four circuit courts in a row have now handed major defeats to Big Oil companies in these cases, rejecting the industry’s efforts to escape accountability. The people of Rhode Island deserve their day in state court.”
Background:
Earlier this year, the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, Fourth Circuit, and Ninth Circuit issued similar rulings in climate accountability lawsuits brought by communities in Colorado, Maryland, and California respectively.
Three other federal circuit courts across the country are considering similar arguments from Exxon and other oil and gas companies, which have repeatedly lost efforts to move climate accountability lawsuits out of state court.
Since 2017, the attorneys general of Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Vermont, and the District of Columbia, as well as 20 city and county governments in California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina, and Washington, have filed lawsuits to hold major oil and gas companies accountable for deceiving the public about their products’ role in climate change.