House Member Crafting Legislation to Stop Climate Lawsuits

Following widespread reports that the oil and gas industry has been lobbying Congress for a liability waiver that could give fossil fuel companies complete legal immunity, a U.S. House Representative said yesterday that she is working to “craft legislation” aimed at “tackling” climate lawsuits and climate superfund bills that seek to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for their role in the climate crisis.

“Multiple climate lawsuits are now advancing toward trial,” U.S. Rep Harriet Hageman (R-WY) said to Attorney General Pam Bondi during a hearing yesterday. “Clearly this is an area in which Congress has a role to play. To that end, I am working with my colleagues in both the House and Senate to craft legislation tackling both these state laws and the lawsuits.”

In January, the American Petroleum Institute announced that killing state climate lawsuits is a top 2026 priority for the oil lobby. Last year, 16 Republican attorneys general proposed creating a “liability shield” for fossil fuel companies modeled on a 2005 law protecting gun manufacturers from lawsuits. Lawmakers in Utah and Oklahoma have also introduced state-level immunity bills for the fossil fuel industry. Nearly 200 groups have urged Democratic leaders in the House and Senate to oppose these efforts.

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

“As communities across the U.S. move closer to putting Big Oil companies on trial to make them pay for the damage their climate lies have caused, the fossil fuel industry is panicking and pleading with Congress for a get-out-of-jail-free card.

“Let’s be clear: you don’t need immunity unless you are in fact responsible for the damages claimed in these lawsuits. A liability shield for Big Oil would bar the courthouse doors for communities across the country and stick U.S. taxpayers with the massive and growing bill for climate damages, while bailing out corporate polluters from having to pay for the mess they made.

“It’s time for leaders in Congress to speak out and make clear that Big Oil is not above the law.”

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

Eleven U.S. states — California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai`i, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, 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, Washington, and Puerto Rico, have active 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.

A growing number of cases — including those brought by Boulder, Colorado, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, the District of Columbia, and the states of Massachusetts, Vermont, Minnesota and Connecticut — are advancing toward discovery and trial after courts denied the oil companies’ motions to dismiss them.