Press Releases
July 16, 2025
PHILADELPHIA — The National Association of Counties (NACo), the largest organization representing the interests of more than 3,000 counties in the United States, is calling on Congress to refrain from limiting the ability of counties to recover damages in court from costly and destructive weather events.
The move comes as major oil and gas companies are reportedly lobbying Congress for legal protections from a growing number of lawsuits from county, state, and local governments that seek to make the companies pay for deceiving the public about climate damages caused by their fossil fuel products.
At the organization’s annual conference on July 13, NACo’s Board of Directors approved a resolution that pointed to “an increasing number of ‘billion-dollar’ extreme weather events that strain taxpayer resources and county response and recovery capacity” and declared that the organization opposes “any legislation that would limit or preempt counties’ access to courts or give companies immunity from lawsuits over damages and costs.”
The lead sponsor of the resolution was County Commissioner Brigid Shea of Travis County, Texas. "Access to the courts is a tool in our toolbox, and we're simply saying 'don't take this away from counties'," Shea said.
Last month, a group of pro-fossil fuel attorneys general asked the Trump administration to help erect a “liability shield” for fossil fuel companies similar to the 2005 law that provided broad immunity to gun manufacturers.
The full text of the NACo resolution is below:
Proposed Resolution Urging Congress to Refrain from Preempting Counties Ability to Recover Damages from Costly and Destructive Weather Events
Issue: Counties are vulnerable to an increasing number of “billion-dollar” extreme weather events that strain taxpayer resources and county response and recovery capacity, with billion- dollar flooding events costing an average of $4.6 billion per event and billion-dollar severe storms costing an average of $2.4 billion per event.
Proposed Policy: America's courts play an important role in our system of checks-and-balances, and any legislation that would limit or preempt counties’ access to courts or give companies immunity from lawsuits over damages and costs is opposed by the National Association of Counties
Approved | Voice Vote | July 13, 2025 NACo Board of Directors
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, South Carolina, Washington, and Puerto Rico, have filed 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. Last year, the attorney general of Michigan announced plans to take fossil fuel companies to court.