April 24 (UPI) — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday decided against allowing climate lawsuits filed against some of the biggest oil companies in the world to move out of state and local courts and into the federal level.
Five states and several municipal governments filed lawsuits against oil and gas companies for allegedly misleading the public about the role their products have on climate change. Their efforts reflect condemnation from the United Nations, the U.S. House of Representatives and the environmental advocacy community.
Richard Wiles, the president of the Center for Climate Integrity, said Exxon, Suncor, Chevron and their allies had tried to get trials out of state courts, where they would face jury trials, and before the Supreme Court instead.
“The high court’s decision is a major victory for communities across the country that are fighting to hold Big Oil accountable and make them pay for the climate damages they knowingly caused,” he said. “Now it’s time for these polluters to face the evidence of their deception in court.”
Many of the companies involved, Exxon in particular, have been the target of criticism. In December, the House Oversight and Reform Committee accused fossil fuel companies of doubling down on long-term reliance on fossil fuels “with no intention” of pursuing clean energy technology.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in January, meanwhile, said that “certain fossil fuel producers were fully aware in the 1970s that their core product was baking our planet.”
Many of the companies involved have embraced cleaner forms of energy, though even U.S. President Joe Biden recognized that fossil fuels will dominate the energy landscape for the foreseeable future, agreeing recently to approve the controversial Willow oil project in Alaska.
Phil Goldberg, special counsel to the Manufacturers’ Accountability Project, an initiative of the National Association of Manufacturers, said the Supreme Court’s decision, meanwhile, was flawed as climate issues are more than just financial penalties that would be awarded by a jury.
“The challenge of our time is developing technologies and public policies so that the world can produce and use energy in ways that are affordable for people and sustainable for the planet,” he told NBC News. “It should not be figuring out how to creatively plead lawsuits that seek to monetize climate change and provide no solutions.”
