Oil Giants Win Climate Suit as Judges Push For Political Fix
Chevron Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc and ConocoPhillips were also sued in the case.
The Friday ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals in New York is a setback for those trying to use the courts to hold the industry responsible for costs associated with rising seas and other consequences of a warming planet.
Chevron Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc and ConocoPhillips were also sued in the case.
The court said global warming “is a uniquely international concern” that requires the federal government to step in rather than judges. Only the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to regulate domestic greenhouse gas emissions, the unanimous three-judge panel held.
New York City “sidestepped” federal procedure with a state-law tort suit against the energy companies even though their commercial activity of selling fossil fuel products around the world is “admittedly legal,” U.S. Circuit Court Judge Richard Sullivan wrote for the court.
‘Patchwork of Claims’
“In so doing, the City effectively seeks to replace these carefully crafted frameworks –- which are the product of the political process –- with a patchwork of claims under state nuisance law,” Sullivan wrote.
A lower court judge in 2018 tossed out the lawsuit on similar grounds, ruling that the federal Clean Air Act governs carbon dioxide emissions and blocks lawsuits. New York City’s press office didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
About a dozen cities, counties and states across the U.S. have sued Exxon, Chevron, BP, Royal Dutch Shell and their peers. The suits seek to reimburse taxpayers for the costs of adapting to climate change — from building multibillion-dollar sea walls to repairing damage from powerful storms and, perhaps soon, moving whole communities inland.
The federal appeals court in San Francisco in 2019 rejected a lawsuit brought on behalf of young people who sought to force the government to draw up a plan to phase out fossil fuel emissions. The majority in the case held in a split decision that climate change should be addressed by Congress and the electorate, not the courts.
Exxon is also fighting a case in Massachusetts, where the state’s Democratic attorney general last year accused the company of misleading consumers and investors about the financial impact of climate-change on its business as well as the “green” value of some of its products. The company says the suit amounts to illegal punishment for the energy giant’s views about fossil fuels, and has asked the judge to dismiss it.
Exxon in December 2019 prevailed in a similar but narrower lawsuit filed by the state of New York, which also accused the energy company of misleading investors by giving false information about how it accounted internally for the future cost of climate change on its business.
Minnesota and Baltimore are among the other state and local governments that are pursuing climate litigation.
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Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
