A Superior Court judge in Mercer County has thrown out a civil lawsuit brought by the New Jersey attorney general against some of the world’s largest oil companies for allegedly hiding the impact of fossil fuels on climate change.
Judge Douglas Hurd dismissed the civil lawsuit against Exxon, BP, Shell, Chevron and ConocoPhillips, and others – including the American Petroleum Institute – saying that the state’s claims are preempted by federal law.
“This court’s decision is reliant upon and consistent with both federal and state courts across the country that have rejected the availability of state tort law in the climate change context,” the judge wrote in his Feb. 5 opinion.
Dozens of climate change lawsuits have been filed by cities and states around the country that are awaiting trial or have been dismissed. Attorney General Matt Platkin said last week the state will appeal the judge’s decision in the New Jersey case.
Platkin’s lawsuit, first filed in 2022, alleged the oil industry engaged in a decades-long campaign to discredit the science of global warming, conceal the dangers posed by their
fossil fuel products, and misrepresent their efforts to combat climate change.
The lawsuit alleged that “deception” led to an increase in greenhouse gas pollution,
resulting in sea-level rise, extreme weather events such as Super Storm Sandy, and other climate change impacts that have affected New Jersey residents. Had the state prevailed in the case oil companies could have potentially faced billions of dollars in damages.
Judge Hurd said that although the plaintiffs were framing their lawsuit as a “deception case” they were essentially seeking damages for the impacts of interstate and international emissions, for which a state court cannot assign liability.
“Despite the artful pleading by the plaintiffs in this case, this court finds that plaintiffs’ complaint, even under the most indulgent reading, is entirely about addressing the injuries of global climate change and seeking damages for such alleged injuries,” Judge Hurd wrote.
“As defendants state in their moving brief, ‘the federal system does not permit a State to apply its laws to claims seeking redress for injuries allegedly caused by interstate or worldwide emissions,’” the judge noted.
The plaintiffs were the attorney general, the State Department of Environmental Protection, and the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs. Their lawsuit alleged eight state law causes of action based on their allegations that the defendants deceived consumers, the public, and decision-makers regarding the climate risks created by their products.
