The U.S. Supreme Court will hear an appeal from oil companies aiming to overturn lower court rulings that state court is the proper venue for the climate change lawsuit brought by the city of Baltimore.
The case is seen as a bellwether for the growing litany of similar climate change lawsuits against fossil fuel companies across several states and cities according to POLITICO.
In the lawsuit, Baltimore cited Maryland public nuisance laws to seek monetary damages from the companies for selling products that release greenhouse gases. But the case for now centers on whether to grant oil companies’ request to move the Baltimore suit from state court to federal court. The Supreme Court’s 2007 ruling in Massachusetts v. EPA saddled that agency with the authority to regulate greenhouse gases, and a subsequent 2011 ruling in American Electric Power v. Connecticut made it clear that states could not bring federal common law claims against fossil fuel companies because of EPA’s authority over greenhouse gases.
The court likely will not hear the case until January at the earliest, with a ruling expected by June.
Source: POLITICO
