The Climate Docket

WHAT WE COVER:

  • Liability Litigation
    • Baltimore Lawsuit
    • California Climate Lawsuits
    • Colorado Lawsuit
    • Mass. v. Exxon
    • New York City Lawsuit
    • Rhode Island Lawsuit
    • Other Suits
  • Access to Courts
    • Liability Waivers
    • State Legislation
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe

Powered by Genesis

You are here: Home / Archives for Latest News

Justice Dept. to Argue on Side of Oil Companies in Supreme Court Hearing

January 11, 2021 Filed Under: Baltimore Lawsuit, Latest News, Liability Litigation

By Karen Savage

The acting solicitor general will be allowed time to argue in support of ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, BP and nearly two dozen other companies next week during oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court, which has agreed to review a technical ruling by the Fourth Circuit in a climate liability lawsuit filed by Baltimore.

The high court granted the request Friday, after Acting Solicitor General Jeffery B. Wall requested he be allowed to use 10 minutes of the fossil fuel companies’ time, which the energy giants have agreed to cede. 

“The United States and its officers are frequent litigants, and it therefore has a significant interest in the proper application of statutory provisions governing federal appellate jurisdiction,” Wall wrote in a motion filed last month. 

Pat Parenteau, a professor of environmental law at the Vermont Law School, said the granting of Wall’s request by the Supreme Court  isn’t unusual—even considering Wall will likely be out of that post two days later when President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated and begins the process of installing his own administration.  

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Baltimore Lawsuit, Latest News, Liability Litigation

Oil Companies Ask Supreme Court to Decide Jurisdiction of More Climate Cases

January 5, 2021 Filed Under: Baltimore Lawsuit, California Climate Lawsuits, Latest News, Liability Litigation, Rhode Island Lawsuit

By Karen Savage

Several fossil fuel giants want the U.S. Supreme Court to make its upcoming review of climate cases applicable to a wider range of those cases, filing briefs urging the court to include cases filed by Rhode Island and several California communities.

The companies—Exxon, Chevron, Shell, BP, ConocoPhillips, Marathon and several other energy companies—last week petitioned the high court, asking it to reverse rulings by the First and Ninth Circuits that have sent those cases back to state court.

The high court has already granted review of a lower court’s decision to place the Baltimore case in state court and oral arguments are scheduled for Jan. 19. The companies are asking the court to hold the new petitions pending that ruling and then dispose of them “in a manner consistent with its decision in that case.” In other words, the companies hope the court sends all of the similar cases filed around the country to federal court, where they believe they will be dismissed.

The newest petitions, which were spearheaded by Chevron attorney Ted Boutrous, a partner with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, mirror a similar request made by Exxon and Suncor last month in a case filed by communities in Colorado. 

The companies’ Colorado, California and Rhode Island petitions all involve the same technical, legal question they presented in a case filed against many of the same companies by Baltimore.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Baltimore Lawsuit, California Climate Lawsuits, Latest News, Liability Litigation, Rhode Island Lawsuit

Baltimore: Supreme Court Should Not Broaden Appeals to Favor Oil Companies

December 16, 2020 Filed Under: Baltimore Lawsuit, Latest News, Liability Litigation

By Karen Savage

The Supreme Court has never authorized broad appellate court review of jurisdictional rulings by lower courts and—despite arguments presented by several fossil fuel companies attempting to duck a climate liability suit filed against them by Baltimore—that shouldn’t change, the city said in a new brief to the court.

The high court agreed in October to review a procedural question in the case when it granted a petition from ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, BP and nearly two dozen other companies. It said it would  weigh in on a ruling by the Fourth Circuit that the case belongs in state court, where it was filed in 2018. 

In a brief filed Wednesday, Baltimore said the appellate court ruled correctly. 

After the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, the fossil fuel companies asked it to expand the review to include rulings by the First, Ninth, and Tenth circuits, which have all sent similar climate cases to state courts. The companies want the high court to rule that climate change-related suits filed against the industry by nearly two dozen municipalities across the country belong in federal court.

Baltimore rejects that notion. 

“The petition raised a single question presented,” attorneys for Baltimore wrote, adding that in their initial petition to the court, the fossil fuel companies “represented that ‘as it comes to the court, this case presents only that question.’” 

Ultimately, the Supreme Court’s ruling could affect whether climate suits filed since 2017 will be heard in state court, where nearly all have been filed, or in federal court, where the companies think they have a better chance of getting them dismissed. 

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Baltimore Lawsuit, Latest News, Liability Litigation

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • …
  • 12
  • Next Page »
Don't Miss a story
Subscribe 
We promise not to spam you. Unsubscribe at any time.
Invalid email address
Thanks for subscribing! Please check your email for further instructions.

Latest News

Justice Dept. to Argue on Side of Oil Companies in Supreme Court Hearing

By Karen Savage The acting solicitor general will be allowed time to argue in support of ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, BP and nearly two dozen other companies next week during oral arguments before … [Read More...]

Recent Posts

  • Colorado Judge Rejects Oil Companies’ Attempt to Move Climate Case
  • Biden’s DOJ Could Help Swing Momentum Around Climate Cases
  • Supreme Court Questions Oil Companies’ Tactics to Shake Climate Cases
  • Will Amy Coney Barrett, Whose Father Was a Shell Attorney for Decades, Recuse from Climate Suit?

Most Popular

  • Will Amy Coney Barrett, Whose Father Was a Shell Attorney for Decades, Recuse from Climate Suit?
  • Exxon Continues to Fund 'Science' Group Steeped in Climate Denial and Delay
  • Study Estimates Seawalls to Protect U.S. Coast Will Cost $400 Billion
  • Climate Activists Win Necessity Defense Case in London
  • Vulnerable Nations Call for Ecocide to Be Recognized As an International Crime

Categories

  • Access to Courts
  • Baltimore Lawsuit
  • California Climate Lawsuits
  • Charleston, S.C. Lawsuit
  • Colorado Lawsuit
  • Connecticut Lawsuit
  • Delaware Lawsuit
  • Exxon Climate Investigation
  • Featured
  • Hoboken Lawsuit
  • International
  • Latest News
  • Liability Litigation
  • Liability Waivers
  • Mass. v. Exxon
  • Minnesota Lawsuit
  • New York City Lawsuit
  • Other Suits
  • Politics
  • Rhode Island Lawsuit
  • State Legislation
  • Uncategorized
  • Washington DC Lawsuit

Follow us

  • View climatedocket’s profile on Facebook
  • View climatedocket’s profile on Twitter

RSS

RSS Feed RSS - Posts

  • Facebook
  • Twitter