Appeals Court: Baltimore Climate Damages Lawsuit Against Big Oil Will Stay in State Court

Baltimore —The City of Baltimore’s lawsuit seeking to hold Big Oil companies – including Exxon, BP, Chevron, and Shell – accountable for the costs of climate change-related damages will remain in state court following a federal appeals court decision today. 

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit unanimously agreed with a lower court that the case should be heard in Maryland State Court, allowing the case to proceed against fossil fuel companies for their role in creating climate change and deceiving the public about it. Three other federal district courts have also found that the cases should be tried in state court; those cases are now on appeal in the First, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits.

Richard Wiles, Executive Director for the Center for Climate Integrity, released the following statement: 

“The people of Baltimore are now one step closer to having their rightful day in court. The oil industry that created and continues to lie about climate change should be made to pay its fair share of the staggering costs their destruction and deception have thrust on taxpayers. 

“Big Oil has repeatedly tried to stop climate damage cases from being heard in state court where they belong. Thankfully the courts have blocked their efforts. Just as Big Tobacco and Big Pharma were made to pay for harms they knew their products would cause, so too should Big Oil.” 

Background: 

Today’s ruling is the first time a federal appeals court has ruled on the issue of whether climate damages cases against fossil fuel companies should be heard in state or federal court. To date, four of the five federal district court judges to have considered this question have ruled in favor of plaintiffs that the lawsuits should be heard in state court where they were originally filed. 

Baltimore officials filed a lawsuit in Maryland state court in 2018 against 26 oil and gas companies, arguing that their products, and a decades-long campaign to deceive the public, have left the city unduly exposed to an onslaught of threats from climate change, including flooding, extreme weather, and sea-level rise. The City of Baltimore argues that these companies should pay their fair share of the enormous costs associated with planning for and adapting to climate-related risks.  

A 2019 report from the Center for Climate Integrity found that coastal and tidal communities in the lower 48 states will have to spend more than $400 billion by 2040 to pay for seawalls needed to protect infrastructure, property, and lives from climate-driven sea-level rise. The estimated cost for Baltimore was $123.9 million. 

More than a dozen lawsuits – including from the state of Rhode Island and cities and counties in California, Colorado, New York, and Washington State – are currently pending that seek to hold fossil-fuel companies financially accountable for their role in creating climate change and then deceiving the public about the impact of their business practices.