• What happened: The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal in another climate nuisance lawsuit—this time by Minnesota—sending the case back down to state court.
• Zoom in: Like the dozens of other climate nuisance cases filed around the country, Minnesota’s 2020 lawsuit accused fossil fuel companies of knowingly contributing to climate change and claims billions of dollars in damages.
• Remind me: Despite arguments that climate policy should be decided on a national level by Congress, rather than state by state in courtrooms, SCOTUS declined several similar appeals last year because they raised state law public nuisance claims.
• Why it matters: With billions of dollars in damages, national climate policy and consumer energy costs at stake, SCOTUS’ decision not only puts the courts in the position of determining public policy, but it puts America’s energy security at risk.
• What about Texas? TLR strongly advocated for HB 1372 (Cody Harris, Mayes Middleton), to rein in the use of public nuisance lawsuits to circumvent the Legislature. It did not pass.
• TLR Thoughts: It’s clear that the use of public nuisance lawsuits as a way to get around the legislative process isn’t going away. From climate nuisance, to litter to vehicle theft, literally any legal product could be in the crosshairs.

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