A new threat is emerging to American energy independence in the form of left-wing attorneys filing lawsuits against oil and gas companies, blaming them for so-called “climate” deaths. While the lawsuits have been unsuccessful to date, the Supreme Court has yet to formally quash them, allowing liberal law firms to keep clogging up the court system by filing questionable claims.
Even more concerningly, some of these “climate lawfare” crusades are being funded by foreign billionaires and even the Chinese Communist Party – raising the disturbing possibility that potentially hostile foreign actors are fueling efforts to undermine domestic energy production and, by extension, U.S. national security.
The Wall Street Journal recently detailed one such climate lawfare case surrounding the death of Julie Leon, “who suffered heatstroke in her car in June 2021 after driving almost 100 miles without air conditioning on a day when temperatures hit a record-breaking 108 degrees.” The plaintiffs in the case have now brought a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of Leon’s estate against Exxon, Chevron, BP, ConocoPhillips, and other energy giants, claiming that “oil and gas companies caused the heat wave that scorched the Pacific Northwest in 2021.”
As the Journal notes, this case could well be a sign of a new wave of climate lawfare where left-wing activists look to target energy industry leaders directly. In another case out of Montana, a state court has ruled “that 16 youth plaintiffs were injured by climate change.” Some climate activists are already “making the case that energy executives should face homicide prosecutions for deaths purportedly caused by climate change.”
Previously, the environmental movement had focused on filing lawsuits on behalf of blue states and cities, alleging that higher temperatures are directly caused by the burning of oil and gas, and thus companies such as Exxon Mobil and Shell should be held financially liable. According to the Center for Climate Integrity, which supports that claim, there are currently dozens of such lawsuits winding their way through the courts.
Charleston, South Carolina, for example, has sued “two dozen energy companies,” according to Fox News, “alleging oil and gas companies negatively affect the climate.” First filed in 2020, a state judge recently dismissed the lawsuit, saying it “could open floodgates to lawsuits being brought over any weather activity,” according to Fox.
“Already, scores of states, counties, and municipalities have sued a hodgepodge of oil-and-gas companies for the alleged weather-related effects of climate change,” Judge Roger Young, a member of the state’s Court of Common Pleas, wrote in his ruling. “If these lawsuits were successful, municipalities, companies, and individuals across the country could bring suits for injuries after every weather event. The list of potential plaintiffs is unbounded.”
Furthermore, the lawsuits, particularly those brought on behalf of cities like Charleston, would open up the municipalities themselves to legal problems. Judge Young pointed out that Charleston “long used and continue[s] to use fossil fuels for myriad purposes — and built and maintained nearly all the roads and bridges that make fossil-fuel-powered transportation possible.” (It’s perhaps no wonder, given these developments, that voters elected the first Republican mayor of Charleston in 150 years in 2023.)
Charleston isn’t the only Democrat-run city that has been dealt a setback in the courts. As the Journal notes, “State judges in Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania have dismissed climate claims this year on jurisdictional grounds.”
While taxpayers are on the hook for many of these lawsuits, there is also another category of backers fueling the lawfare against American energy: foreign billionaires.
Take, for instance, a 2024 lawsuit filed on behalf of California against Exxon Mobil, which accuses the company of covering up the costs of single-use plastics. A parallel lawsuit against the company is also being funded by Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest, according to the Washington Free Beacon. Forrest’s company, the Beacon reports, has begun shifting its investments to so-called “green energy,” meaning he benefits when oil and gas companies are harmed.
During a Senate Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights hearing earlier this year, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) also warned that the United States is facing a “coordinated assault by the radical left backed and paid for by the Chinese Communist Party, to seize control of our courts, to weaponize litigation against U.S. energy producers, all in order to undermine American energy dominance.” As The Hill reported at the time, “Cruz explained that foreign money from entities tied to the Chinese Communist Party to fund efforts by climate advocacy groups to litigate against American energy producers.”
As alarming as this prospect is, these lawsuits are likely to continue. There are conceivably millions of potential plaintiffs if every city, state, and individual is able to make some sort of claim of being harmed by climate change – and the Chinese Communist Party has no shortage of cash to fund these attempts to sabotage American energy security.
Democrats and Republicans should be able to unite on this issue: foreign billionaires should not be allowed to wage “climate lawfare” against American companies that literally fuel the economy. It’s time for the Supreme Court to step in and stop the absurd legal battles.
Matt Lamb is a contributor for AMAC Newsline and an associate editor for The College Fix. He previously worked for Students for Life of America, Students for Life Action, and Turning Point USA. He previously interned for Open the Books. His writing has also appeared in the Washington Examiner, The Federalist, LifeSiteNews, Human Life Review, Headline USA, and other outlets. The opinions expressed are his own. Follow him @mattlamb22 on X.
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