California Governments Can Pursue Lawsuits Against Oil Companies over Climate Change

sweet. now they can prove once and for all, in legal proceedings, that climate change is real and that it is the fault of oil companies. piece of cake, no?


Federal Appeals Court: California Governments Can Pursue Lawsuits in State Courts Against Oil Companies over Climate Change


A federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday local governments in California can sue oil companies in state courts for allegedly causing climate change and hiding it from the public.

The suit, which dates back to 2017, is seeking damages for more than 30 companies, which the anti-oil San Francisco Chronicle said fossil fuels producers “profit from products contributing to rises in temperatures and sea levels.”


And that means climate change is forcing cities and counties in the state to spend more money on infrastructure, including sea walls.

The plaintiffs in the case are San Mateo, Marin and Santa Cruz counties and the cities of Richmond, Santa Cruz and Imperial Beach in San Diego County.

The Chronicle reported:

The local governments sued in state court under California’s law allowing damages for a “public nuisance,” private actions that harm the public health. The companies want the case to be heard in federal court, where judges can consider state laws but are generally less receptive to those laws than state courts, and are more likely to dismiss such suits.

U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria of San Francisco and the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled initially that the suits raised no issues of federal law and belonged in state court. The Supreme Court told the appeals court last year to reconsider its ruling after ordering another court to review possible federal issues in a similar suit by the city of Baltimore. On Tuesday, the Ninth Circuit panel said it had considered all applicable federal laws and reached the same conclusion.

The suits contend the oil companies’ “wrongful conduct in producing, selling, marketing fossil fuels contributes to global warming and sea-level rise, which led to property damage and other injuries” to the cities and counties, Judge Sandra Ikuta said in the 3-0 ruling. While the companies produced some of the oil as federal government contractors or on federal land, Ikuta said, they did not carry out government orders or policies, and none of their actions implicated federal laws.

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