Energy & Climate
Big Oil lawsuit to proceed
Colorado Supreme Court rejects Exxon’s arguments against Boulder climate lawsuit.
25 May 2025
As communities get closer to putting Big Oil companies on trial for climate lies and damages, the American Petroleum Institute says stopping ‘state climate lawsuits’ is an industry priority.
As communities across the USA get closer to putting Big Oil companies on trial for deceiving the public about their role in the climate crisis, the American Petroleum Institute, the nation’s largest oil and gas trade association, has said that one of its top 2026 priorities is to stop ‘state climate lawsuits’.
The declaration comes after numerous news outlets reported that the fossil fuel industry has been lobbying Congress for immunity from climate accountability lawsuits filed by 11 attorneys general and dozens of municipal and tribal governments across the USA.
Last year, 16 Republican attorneys general proposed creating a ‘liability shield’ for fossil fuel companies modelled on a 2005 law protecting gun manufacturers from lawsuits.
State-level immunity bills for the fossil fuel industry have already been introduced this year in Utah and Oklahoma as part of the larger coordinated effort to strip communities of their right to take Big Oil to court.
‘Big Oil is openly asking Congress for a ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ card because fossil fuel companies are desperate to avoid facing the evidence of their climate lies in court.
‘Congress must make clear that any proposal to strip Americans of their right to hold corporations accountable for the damage they cause when they lie to the public about the harms of their products will be dead on arrival. ‘No matter your politics, we should all agree that no industry should be above the law.’
RICHARD WILES
President of the Center for Climate Integrity
10 US states – California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai`i, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Vermont – plus the District of Columbia and dozens of city, county and tribal governments in California, Colorado, Hawai`i, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington and Puerto Rico, have active lawsuits to hold major oil and gas companies accountable for deceiving the public about their products’ role in climate change.
These cases collectively represent more than one in four people living in the United States.
The attorney general of Michigan has also announced plans to take fossil fuel companies to court.
Big Oil companies are currently asking the US Supreme Court to review a Colorado Supreme Court ruling that allowed a climate deception lawsuit against ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy to advance toward discovery and trial.
The high court has turned down the last six requests to review lower courts rulings in the cases.
Boulder is one of a growing number of communities across the USA – including Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, the District of Columbia and the states of Massachusetts, Vermont, Minnesota and Connecticut – whose climate deception lawsuits against Big Oil companies are advancing towards discovery and trial after courts denied the companies’ motions to dismiss them.
Colorado Supreme Court rejects Exxon’s arguments against Boulder climate lawsuit.
Big Oil CEOs raised concerns about climate deception lawsuits and climate superfund laws in a White House meeting with President Trump, Wall Street Journal reports.
‘The people of California deserve their day in court to hold Big Oil accountable’, Center for Climate Integrity says.
A first-ever analysis shows how oil majors sold false climate promises from 2000 to 2025.
