Litigation Update: Climate Lawsuits and Status at the U.S. Supreme Court

Since 2017, more than thirty states, counties, and municipalities have filed lawsuits against energy producers under state nuisance and consumer protection laws seeking damages for the alleged effects of climate change. Federal courts have expressed concerns with the scope of these lawsuits; they have held that principles of federalism inherent in the Constitution and the need for federal uniformity in the regulation of out-of-state pollution preclude the efforts of climate plaintiffs to litigate these claims under state law. For example, in dismissing New York City’s lawsuit in 2021 the Second Circuit held that “such a sprawling case is simply beyond the limits of state law.” Other courts have nonetheless allowed some similar state-law claims to proceed. In October 2023, the Supreme Court of Hawaii held that the City and County of Honolulu could move forward with its efforts to use Hawaii state law to impose liability on several large out-of-state oil and gas companies for injuries allegedly caused by worldwide greenhouse gas emissions.

In February, defendants in the Honolulu action filed a petition for a writ of certiorari asking the US Supreme Court to resolve the split that has formed in the wake of the Hawaii Supreme Court’s ruling. According to petitioners, the pending petition presents the best chance the Supreme Court will have to resolve this important issue in the near future. Join us for a litigation update on this case, and its potential impacts for climate change  litigation.

Theodore J. Boutrous Jr., Partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP and counsel for Chevron, will join us to discuss these cases and address arguments raised in the pending cert petition.

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As always, the Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues; all expressions of opinion are those of the speaker.