US Supreme Court Rejects Big Oil Attacks on Hawaii Climate Lawsuit
Jessica Corbett for Common Dreams
"This is a significant day for the people of Honolulu
and the rule of law," Ben Sullivan, executive director and chief
resilience officer at the City and County of Honolulu's Office of Climate
Change, Sustainability, and Resiliency, said in a statement.
"This landmark decision upholds our right to enforce
Hawaii laws in Hawaii courts, ensuring the protection of Hawaii taxpayers and
communities from the immense costs and consequences of the climate crisis
caused by the defendants misconduct," he added.
Honolulu first sued companies including BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Shell, and Sunoco in March 2020. The companies have fought to shut down the case—like dozens of other climate liability lawsuits that states and municipalities have filed against Big Oil at the state level.
Shell and Sunoco led a pair of
appeals to the Supreme Court, arguing that
Honolulu's suit was "a blueprint for chaos" because it could inform
other legal actions against fossil fuel companies and such cases "could
threaten the energy industry." Similar to three previous decisions, the justices declined to
intervene.
Center for Climate Integrity president Richard Wiles
connected Monday's victory to the other cases, saying in a
statement that "Big Oil companies keep fighting a losing battle to avoid
standing trial for their climate lies."
"With this latest denial, the fossil fuel industry's
worst nightmare—having to face the overwhelming evidence of their decades of
calculated climate deception—is closer than ever to becoming a reality,"
Wiles continued. "Communities everywhere are paying dearly for the massive
damages caused by Big Oil's decadeslong climate deception. The people of
Honolulu and communities across the country deserve their day in court to hold
these companies accountable."
Delta Merner, lead scientist for the Union of Concerned
Scientists' Science Hub for Climate Litigation, similarly celebrated the
decision, which she called "a
resounding affirmation of Honolulu's right to seek justice under state law for
the mounting climate impacts caused by fossil fuel companies' deceptive
practices."
"For more than 50 years, fossil fuel companies have
conducted sophisticated disinformation campaigns to obscure their own research
showing that burning fossil fuels would drive climate change," Merner
highlighted. "This case lays bare how these actions have contributed to
rising seas, intensified storms, and coastal erosion that are devastating
Honolulu's people, infrastructure, and natural resources."
"Scientific evidence is unequivocal: The human-caused
emissions from fossil fuels are the primary driver of climate change," she
stressed. "Honolulu's case stands as an example of how communities are
using both science and the law to challenge corporate misconduct and demand
accountability for climate damages."
Merner added that "the people of Honolulu are
demonstrating remarkable leadership in standing up to powerful fossil fuel
companies whose disinformation campaigns have directly contributed to the
climate harms they now face. Their efforts serve as a powerful example for
communities around the world. This decision is one step in a larger effort to
seek accountability and justice."
The Supreme Court's latest blow to the oil and gas industry
came just a week before the second inauguration of President-elect Donald
Trump, who courted Big Oil executives on the
campaign trail and pledged to "drill, baby, drill" if he won the
November election.
The high court—which has a right-wing supermajority that
includes three Trump appointees—had asked the Biden administration to weigh in.
Last month, U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar urged the
justices not to intervene. Merner said at the time that her briefs
"represent an important step in the pursuit of climate
accountability."
