• What’s happening: As Baltimore officials appeal last week’s dismissal of the city’s climate nuisance lawsuit against oil and gas companies, let’s take a closer look at Judge Videtta A. Brown’s key rulings in the case.

• Out of scope: Judge Brown noted out-of-state emissions were beyond the scope of state court and interstate pollution was preempted by the federal Clean Air Act.
  • “Global pollution-based complaints were never intended by Congress to be handled by individual states.”

• • Brown ruled against Baltimore’s claim under the Maryland Consumer Protection Act, citing the three-year statute of limitations and stating the city was aware of fossil fuel impacts for more than three years before filing.
  • “Baltimore does not allege that its injury comes from its own use of or direct exposure to Defendant’s fossil fuels but from consumers’ decisions to use fossil fuels across the globe for many years.”
• Public nuisance doesn’t apply: Brown ruled that greenhouse gas emissions are not a nuisance under state law, despite the city’s claims.
• “Fossil fuels are a lawful consumer product guided and regulated by the EPA. Baltimore does not allege that the Defendants directly released a hazardous chemical into the waters or lands of Baltimore at the point of sale.”

• What’s next: The U.S. Supreme Court is considering the city and county of  Honolulu’s climate nuisance lawsuit and has requested input from the Biden administration, presumably because of the case’s impact on national energy policy.

• TLR Thoughts: Courts have repeatedly ruled that climate change is a major global policy that needs to be addressed by the appropriate legislative or regulatory bodies.
  • For example, in 2021, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed New York City’s climate nuisance lawsuit, emphasizing that climate change is a global issue best regulated by federal and international law, not state courts.
  • BUT… that hasn’t stopped dozens of cities, states and local governments from continuing to file climate nuisance lawsuits across the country in an attempt to pad government coffers and circumvent the legislative process to target legal products and activities.
  • Without legislative action, we can expect more public nuisance lawsuits against various industries to continue.

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