Big Oil just lost another round in the ongoing fight to hold them accountable for climate change damages, as a federal appeals court ruled that a lawsuit from the City of Baltimore seeking to recover billions of dollars in costs from Exxon, BP, Chevron, and Shell and other Big Oil companies will remain in state court, where the city originally filed.
The 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 for decades.
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.
Big Oil has repeatedly tried to move climate damage cases filed in state court to federal court, where the companies think they have a better chance of winning. Thankfully the courts have blocked their efforts, and the people of Baltimore are now one step closer to having their rightful day in court.
Just as Big Tobacco and Big Pharma were made to pay for harms they knew their products would cause, so too should Big Oil.