A record heat wave is set to hit the central and eastern parts of the country this week, while the Big Oil companies that knowingly fuel climate chaos continue to rake in massive profits.
In this issue:
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Coordinated push to shield Big Oil connected to conservative activist ⬇️
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New Yorkers support making polluters pay for rising insurance costs ⬇️
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Climate cases move forward despite Big Oil’s attempts to put them on ice ⬇️
Let's dive in.
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- Who’s behind the coordinated push to give Big Oil immunity? Across the country, nearly a dozen states are considering or have passed bills that aim to shield polluters from being held accountable for climate damages. Most of those bills, according to a ProPublica investigation, can be traced to a coordinated campaign from groups all funded by conservative activist Leonard Leo — the same Leonard Leo credited with putting several of the current conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Court.
- This coordinated campaign has led to a wave of state bills aiming to put fossil fuel companies above the law. Utah was the first state to pass legislation making it nearly impossible for communities to hold Big Oil accountable in court, and similar bills are awaiting governors’ signatures in Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Iowa. Check out this full breakdown from ExxonKnews on the dangerous wave of immunity bills and what they aim to do.
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“By setting evidentiary requirements that exceed what the best available science can deliver, these laws are trying to slam the courthouse door shut.”
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Delta Merner, lead scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists
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“By setting evidentiary requirements that exceed what the best available science can deliver, these laws are trying to slam the courthouse door shut.”
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Delta Merner, lead scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists
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- New Yorkers widely support making Big Oil pay for rising insurance costs in the wake of climate disasters, a new poll from CCI and Data for Progress found. New York lawmakers have joined officials in California and Hawaiʻi in advancing efforts to make large oil and gas giants pay their fair share of the financial consequences of climate change. More than two-thirds of New Yorkers support efforts to recover the costs of climate-driven extreme weather disasters from Big Oil corporations most responsible for the problem.
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Jay Inslee urges Congress to oppose Big Oil immunity
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Former Washington Governor Jay Inslee is sounding the alarm about Big Oil’s lobbying campaign for legal immunity, warning of the harm to communities, affordability, and democracy if the fossil fuel industry is placed above the law.
Last month, Inslee and Center for Climate Integrity staff briefed members of Congress about the oil industry’s push to secure a legal shield that would block communities across the country from holding the fossil fuel industry accountable for its climate deception and the damages it has fueled.
Inslee, a former three-term governor, House member, and trial lawyer, also appeared on multiple national news networks to denounce Big Oil’s pursuit of a get-out-of-jail-free card.
“Oil and gas executives are terrified of having to face their own record,” Inslee told CNN. “They are terrified of being cross-examined and read the things they wrote back in the ‘70s and ‘80s that predicted this catastrophe that we are now experiencing."
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TAP INTO THE CLIMATE ACCOUNTABILITY CONVERSATION
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If Big Oil were to secure immunity from liability for climate damage, the public would keep paying for the costs of climate change, while the fossil fuel companies most responsible for them would continue to pay nothing."
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If Big Oil were to secure immunity from liability for climate damage, the public would keep paying for the costs of climate change, while the fossil fuel companies most responsible for them would continue to pay nothing."
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Legal Action Against Big Oil
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- A growing number of courts have rejected Big Oil’s requests to pause climate deception cases while the U.S. Supreme Court considers ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy’s plea to stop a case from Boulder, Colorado. Judges have denied Big Oil’s motions to stay at least three separate cases from the state of Hawaiʻi, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and a daughter seeking to hold oil giants accountable for her mother’s death during the 2021 Pacific Northwest Heat Dome. Other similar motions are pending.
- Maine lawmakers passed a bill that will calculate the cost of the climate crisis in the state. Supporters of the bill consider the study to be a first step toward a climate superfund bill in the state.
- Vermont defended its landmark Climate Superfund law in court against the Trump administration, the American Petroleum Institute, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The DOJ sued the state last year in an attempt to block Vermont’s superfund law that aims to make polluters pay for climate damages.
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Sincerely,
Isabella Garcia
Communications Strategist, Center for Climate Integrity
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