As 2021 shapes up to be a defining year for more than a dozen pending lawsuits, major energy companies have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review two appellate court decisions allowing public nuisance lawsuits to move forward in state court. The move, which raises the stakes in the municipal- and state-driven climate litigation campaign, comes just days before the high court will hear arguments in the companies appeal of a lower-court decision which sent Baltimore’s public nuisance lawsuit back to state court.
In the petitions, which were filed on December 30, the companies argue that decisions from the U.S. Ninth and First Circuit Courts of Appeals allowing climate lawsuits brought by California municipalities and Rhode Island to progress in state court should be examined following the outcome of the Supreme Court’s review of the City of Baltimore’s case.
Read the full blog post at EIDClimate.org.
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