As the summer approaches, here’s your reminder that Big Oil knew its products would cause extreme heat and exacerbate fire conditions, shouldering us with the inevitable extreme weather season headed our way. And now they have the audacity to try to put themselves above the law. 🙄
In this issue:
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Voters overwhelmingly oppose immunity for Big Oil ⬇️
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Minnesota is fighting the Trump admin’s attempt to shield Big Oil ⬇️
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Climate change has cost New Yorkers billions in insurance costs ⬇️
Let's dive in.
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- News flash: putting Big Oil above the law is deeply unpopular among likely voters! A nationwide survey from Data for Progress and CCI found that 65% of likely voters — including 73% of Democrats, 71% of Independents, and 53% of Republicans — oppose federal legislation to shield oil and gas corporations from climate laws and lawsuits.
- Even though most voters oppose giving Big Oil immunity, fossil fuel allies are still advancing legislation to do just that. A bill in Louisiana that would block future climate lawsuits against oil and gas companies is awaiting the governor's signature after passing through the state legislature.
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“If you have not violated the law, there is no reason to seek immunity."
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Richard Wiles, CCI President
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“If you have not violated the law, there is no reason to seek immunity."
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Richard Wiles, CCI President
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- Big Oil is leveraging the data center boom to further entrench planet-warming fossil fuels. Since the start of 2025, U.S. data centers "have signed off on more investment in new gas turbines than any country in the world." According to the International Energy Agency, “investment in grid upgrades, power equipment and electricity generation to support the buildout of data-centre infrastructure around the world hit $105bn in 2025.”
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Climate Change Has Cost New Yorkers Billions In Higher Insurance Premiums, Study Finds
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Climate change is driving up the cost of home insurance and fueling a nationwide affordability crisis. But a new study shows there’s a way to turn those losses into economic gains: make the fossil fuel corporations most responsible for the problem pay their fair share.
The first-of-its-kind study from Greenline Insights finds that a successful lawsuit against large fossil fuel corporations for climate-related insurance losses could deliver significant financial benefits to New York households and drive $2.7 billion in economic growth in the state.
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Minnesota asks court to dismiss Trump admin.’s “vague,” “unripe,” and “flimsy” arguments to stop Big Oil lawsuit
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The Trump administration’s “vague,” “unripe,” and “flimsy” legal arguments to stop Minnesota from putting three major architects of Big Oil’s climate deception on trial “strain credulity” and should be dismissed, the state’s attorney general said in a filing last week.
Last month, after the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that Attorney General Keith Ellison’s consumer fraud lawsuit against ExxonMobil, Koch Industries, and the American Petroleum Institute could advance toward discovery and trial, the Department of Justice urged a federal court to take emergency action to block it.
Federal courts have already rejected preemptive Trump administration lawsuits that aimed to stop Michigan and Hawai‘i from taking Big Oil companies to court. But the DOJ’s action against Minnesota is “even more egregious,” the state argued, because it comes six years after Minnesota filed its case. In that time, multiple state and federal courts have rejected Big Oil’s arguments to escape accountability and ruled that Minnesota’s case can advance toward trial in state court.
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TAP INTO THE CLIMATE ACCOUNTABILITY CONVERSATION
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Big Oil’s decades of deception have kept us hooked on fossil fuels and now the American people are paying for it through $1 trillion a year in climate damages. Big Oil shouldn’t be above the law."
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Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), in a briefing to the House of Representatives’ Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition.
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Big Oil’s decades of deception have kept us hooked on fossil fuels and now the American people are paying for it through $1 trillion a year in climate damages. Big Oil shouldn’t be above the law."
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Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), in a briefing to the House of Representatives’ Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition.
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Legal Action Against Big Oil
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- Fossil fuel industry allies are urging the Supreme Court to stop communities from pursuing climate accountability in the courts in briefs filed in support of the oil companies named in Boulder, Colorado’s climate deception lawsuit. Kert Davies, CCI’s director of special investigations, told E&E it was "not surprising to see an armada of dark money groups and corporate interests connected to the fossil fuel industry flood the court with reasons why communities shouldn’t have their day in court."
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Sincerely,
Isabella Garcia
Communications Strategist, Center for Climate Integrity
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