DOJ Tells SCOTUS to Not Review Climate Deception Lawsuits

The U.S. Justice Department yesterday urged the Supreme Court to deny two requests for the high court to intervene in state and local lawsuits that seek to hold Big Oil companies accountable for lying to the public about their products’ role in climate change. The briefs filed late yesterday in Sunoco, et al. v. Honolulu and Alabama, et al. v. California, et al. by Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar mark the second and third times that the Biden administration has filed briefs urging the high court to allow such cases to continue advancing in state courts.

Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity, released the following statement:

“The Justice Department has affirmed again that communities deserve their day in court to put Big Oil companies on trial for their climate lies and the resulting harms. Big Oil companies are desperate to avoid facing the evidence of their deception in a courtroom, but wanting to escape the consequences for your actions is not the same thing as having the law on your side.”

Alyssa Johl, vice president of legal and general counsel for the Center for Climate Integrity, released the following statement:

“As the Solicitor General makes clear, there is no legal basis for the Supreme Court to intervene in these cases. State and local governments are seeking to hold corporations accountable for lying about their harmful products, and state courts have the authority to hear those claims. The justices should reject these meritless requests and allow communities to have their day in court to hold Big Oil accountable.”

Background on City and County of Honolulu v. Sunoco, et al.

Oil companies are asking the justices to review a ruling from the Hawai`i Supreme Court in City and County of Honolulu v. Sunoco, et al. which seeks to make major oil and gas companies — including ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, and BP — pay for the costs of local climate damages caused by the companies’ decades-long campaign of deception about the dangers of their fossil fuel products. The fossil fuel industry and its backers have run a widespread media campaign in recent months in an attempt to influence the court to take the case. Justice Alito has recused himself from the case.

In its brief yesterday urging the Supreme Court to reject Big Oil’s petition, the Justice Department agreed with the Hawai`i Supreme Court that “the Clean Air Act does not categorically preempt respondents’ claims” in part because Honolulu’s claims “target only the [fossil fuel] products’ deceptive marketing.”

Background on Alabama, et al. v. California, et al.

In a separate petition, 19 state attorneys general are asking the Supreme Court to stop climate deception lawsuits filed against Big Oil companies by five states — California, Connecticut, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Rhode Island — in their respective state courts. Legal scholars have called Alabama, et al. v. California, et al. “highly unusual,” and the attorneys general of Minnesota, Connecticut, and New Jersey separately called the effort “absurd,” “pure partisan political theater,” and a “desperate stunt.”

In its brief yesterday urging the Supreme Court to reject the state attorneys general request, the Justice Department wrote that “determining the reach of state law is the province of state courts … And there is no reason for this Court to address the constitutionality of the defendant States’ claims before their courts have addressed those state-law matters.”

Background on U.S. Climate Accountability Lawsuits Against Big Oil:

Eleven attorneys general — in California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico — and 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. Earlier this year, the attorney general of Michigan announced plans to take fossil fuel companies to court.