News & Analysis
May 11, 2021
Nine U.S. Senators representing communities that have taken Big Oil to court for climate deception are urging the U.S. Department of Justice to “reassess” its previous support of the fossil fuel industry in several of those lawsuits.
In a May 10 letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, the Senators write that the DOJ’s friend-of-the-court briefs in support of Big Oil during the Trump administration “substantially mischaracterize” the legal arguments made by communities “seeking justice from fossil fuel companies who engaged in decades of deception regarding climate change.”
The Senators mentioned Garland’s promises to support environment justice — as well as President Biden’s campaign pledge to “strategically support ongoing plaintiff-driven climate litigation against polluters” — as additional reasons for the DOJ to review and reconsider its previous positions in climate accountability lawsuits.
“This effort is urgently needed, as the fossil fuel companies in these cases continue to cite DOJ briefs in their proceedings. Multiple cases have upcoming deadlines where fossil fuel companies are likely to again cite the Department’s current positions as articulated in its previously filed briefs. The fossil fuel industry will continue to undermine justice by using these briefs until the Department reverses the positions it has taken in those lawsuits.”
The Senators also requested that DOJ “consider launching its own investigation into the same deceptive practices that lie at the heart of these lawsuits.”
The letter was signed by Senators Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Mazie Hirono and Brian Schatz of Hawai’i, and Alex Padilla of California.
Last month, six attorneys general suing Big Oil wrote a similar letter asking the DOJ to reverse its position and support efforts to hold polluters accountable for climate deception.
