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DOJ Backs Communities Suing Big Oil, Reversing Trump-era Position [1]

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Date: 2023-03

For the First Time, the Justice Department Sides with Communities Seeking to Hold Major Fossil Fuel Corporations Accountable for Climate Damages — Fulfilling a Biden Campaign Pledge

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a U.S. Supreme Court brief filed today, the U.S. Department of Justice for the first time threw its support behind communities seeking to put major oil and gas corporations on trial in state court to hold them accountable for their climate deception and the resulting costs.

Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar urged the high court to deny a petition from ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy that asked the justices to review lower court rulings allowing a lawsuit from three Colorado communities to proceed toward trial in state court, where they were filed.

On the campaign trail, President Biden pledged he would direct his attorney general to “strategically support” such lawsuits, but the department had allowed its Trump-era support of oil companies to remain in effect until today. To date, five federal appeals courts and 13 federal district courts have unanimously ruled against the fossil fuel industry’s arguments to avoid trials in state courts. Last year, the Supreme Court asked the Justice Department to express its views on the matter.

Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity, released the following statement:

“By finally ending its Trump-era support for Big Oil, the Justice Department has added its voice to a series of unanimous court rulings that support communities in their efforts to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for their climate lies.

“Big Oil companies have fought tirelessly to escape accountability for fueling the climate crisis and then lying about it, but judges have uniformly denied their pleas to escape trial in state courts. Communities in Colorado and across the U.S. have waited long enough for justice. It’s past time that Big Oil companies face the evidence of their climate lies and answer to juries in state court.”

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[1] Url: https://climateintegrity.org/news/doj-backs-communities-suing-big-oil-reversing-trump-era-position

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