We Won't Let Big Oil Win
Before I found a home in environmental journalism, I studied environmental law, so it’s only natural that I follow climate litigation news pretty closely. This week, unfortunately, that meant taking in some not-so-great news when the Supreme Court handed Big Oil a win. In BP v. Baltimore — one of 20-plus cases brought by local and state governments to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for deceiving the public about the dangers of climate change — the justices sided with BP and the 23 other companies named in the lawsuit.
The ruling revolves around the rather mundane procedural issue of whether the case should be heard in state or federal court. Oil companies want cases like these to be heard in federal court. Plaintiffs like the City of Baltimore would prefer them to proceed in state court, which they see as more favorable. Now, because of the Supreme Court ruling, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which previously said the case should be heard in state court, must revisit its decision. It must also entertain a broader set of arguments brought by the oil companies. In other words, BP now has a better chance of winning on this issue.
Practically speaking, the ruling’s impact extends further. It means Baltimore has to wait to try the case on its merits while procedural questions are resolved. It means the city, and others like it, still don’t know if fossil fuel companies can be made pay for the steep costs of adapting to more frequent floods, intense heat, and other impacts of global heating. And it means these corporations can make a stronger case for federal jurisdiction in other cases, too.
Still, though Big Oil won this battle, it has not yet won the war. The Supreme Court declined to outright declare that these types of cases belong in federal court. And the Court has yet to consider the case on its merits — that is, to listen to Baltimore’s argument for why fossil fuel companies should help pay for climate adaptation work.
Litigation is a slow-moving beast. So while climate liability lawsuits continue to wind their way through the courtrooms, the fight to limit global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius must continue in parallel in the streets, the boardrooms, the halls of Congress, and beyond. And perhaps when Baltimore eventually gets its real day in court, Big Oil will finally be held to account for it’s dangerous deception.
Zoe Loftus-Farren
Managing Editor, Earth Island Journal
P.S. We’re thrilled to share that Kate Olson’s essay Dis-Ease about documenting change and raising children in a climate-uncertain world has won the 2021 John Burroughs Nature Essay Award.
Photo by: Kris Krüg
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