Climate Tort Lawsuits
Overview of Federal Law and Legal Precedent
Over the last decade, state and local governments have filed dozens of state-law tort suits against energy companies, arguing that those companies are liable for the localized effects of climate change because they misled the public about their products’ impact on the climate, thereby inflating demand for fossil fuels, boosting atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases and worsening climate-related harms. The City and County of Boulder, Colorado, filed one such suit, naming as defendants Suncor Energy and ExxonMobil. The issue before the court is whether Boulder can sue energy companies under state law to recover monetary compensation for harms attributable to…
