On February 11, oral arguments in the City and County of Boulder’s activist-backed climate lawsuit will be heard by the Colorado State Supreme Court. That means today may be the beginning of the end of Boulder’s attempts to pin the blame of climate change on American energy producers. As Axios Denver reports, Boulder “faces an
Frank Sinatra says if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere. So what does it mean when it’s repeatedly made clear that you just can’t make it in New York? That question is one the climate litigation campaign is grappling with today. In yet another demoralizing defeat for the nationally-coordinated
In two separate briefs filed late last month, energy companies pushed back on the Biden administration’s recent support for Honolulu’s climate lawsuit, arguing for Supreme Court intervention and highlighting the inconsistency with positions held by previous administrations of both parties. The U.S. Supreme Court is discussing the companies’ petition at their conference this Friday, meaning
2024 was a tumultuous year for climate lawsuits, to say the least. Throughout the year, radical campaigns opposed to American energy continued to fall flat, highlighting their lack of alignment with the priorities of the American people. Highlights – or lowlights, rather – include the failure of state campaigns to result in lawsuits and voters’
In two related amicus briefs filed Tuesday, the Biden-Harris Department of Justice encouraged the U.S. Supreme Court to allow climate lawsuits against American energy companies move forward – but hinted that the legal approach may run into serious obstacles. While arguing that climate suits are not yet ripe for Supreme Court review, both of US
Hawaii County appears to be gearing up to join the growing wave of municipalities suing energy companies – all to line their pockets – under the facade of addressing climate change, by opening the door to employing a dark-money funded law firm under Congressional investigation. In a moment of surprising candor while discussing grant programs
Just ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey showed his appreciation for the industry that supplies about half of his state’s residents with the fuel to warm their houses in winter – a larger share than any other state – and about 41 percent of the state’s electricity generation by filing a
Multnomah County’s experimental climate lawsuit keeps getting weirder. After years of pressure from climate activists to add gas utilities to the list of industries targeted by lawfare, the Oregon County finally granted their wish by adding a local utility company to its complaint, which already features over a dozen defendants. It’s a déjà vu moment
With Election Day just a few weeks away, the one thing that is certain about Vice President and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris’ energy policy is that…no one is certain about where she really stands. EID and media outlets alike have highlighted Harris’ marked shift from her first presidential campaign in 2019, which saw an embrace
Climate lawsuits are unquestionably about the policy aims of wealthy funders – a state judge in Maryland made this clear in her recent dismissal of Baltimore’s climate lawsuit, describing it as it an attempt to change national climate policy through “the back door.” Now, a new Congressional report first published by the Washington Free Beacon
One year after California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the state’s climate lawsuit at New York Climate Week, on Monday the state’s Attorney General Rob Bonta announced another lawsuit at this year’s activist confab, this time targeting plastics recycling. With two public nuisance lawsuits against energy providers over the last two years, it’s clear Bonta is fully committed
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson last week urged a court to throw out Charleston’s climate lawsuit against energy producers – marking a unique instance of a state attorney general calling out the lack of merits of a municipality’s case. In a amicus brief filed on September 4, Wilson cited the recent dismissal of Baltimore’s lawsuit and noted that the lawsuit
Recently uncovered outside counsel agreements between New Jersey, Chicago, and plaintiffs’ law firms provide fresh details about the millions of dollars private firms stand to make if they prevail in their mission to “take down” American oil and gas companies. Remember, cities and states have gone to great lengths to hide these contracts from their
In a massive loss for the nationally-coordinated climate litigation campaign, a Maryland state judge dismissed the City of Baltimore’s lawsuit against energy companies last week. The ruling firmly rejects the cornerstone legal theory behind the litigation, explaining that state law cannot be used to advance national energy policy and address a global phenomenon such as
This week, California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed an amended complaint in the state’s climate lawsuit doubling down on greenwashing allegations and appealing to a new state law that gives the attorney general a backdoor to seek damages in the form of oil companies’ profits without even attempting to show harm to California consumers. Facing