State-law climate suits against oil companies to proceed, WSJ reports

The Supreme Court on Monday turned away appeals by oil companies seeking protection from potential liability under state laws for harms caused by climate change, a decision that at least for now allows a number of cases to move forward under state laws the industry sees as less favorable than federal environmental statutes, The Walls Street Journal’s Jess Bravin and Erin Mulvaney report. Oil companies, among them Chevron (CVX), Exxon Mobil (XOM), and Shell (SHEL), are facing lawsuits alleging varied environmental harms from greenhouse-gas emissions filed under state laws by Rhode Island and several local governments, the authors note. The Supreme Court denied the industry petitions in a summary order that as is typical contained no comment. Reference Link