Oil Producers Win Another Round In U.S. Climate Change Litigation

On July 19, 2018, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York followed an emerging trend in federal jurisprudence by dismissing a claim against several oil and gas producers in City of New York v. BP PLC, Chevron Corporation, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil Corporation, and Royal Dutch Shell, PC, No. 18 Civ. 182 (S.D. N.Y. July 19, 2018) [BP PLC]. The plaintiff, the City of New York, sought "compensatory damages for past and future costs incurred by the City to protect its infrastructure and property and to protect the public health, safety, and property of its residents from the impacts of climate change."

This action is one of several lawsuits in the United States against oil and gas producers. This decision follows our recent blog, Oil Producers Succeed in California Climate Change Action, which discusses a similar decision out of the Northern District of California (The City of Oakland v. BP, Chevron and Others, No. 17-CV-0611 (N.D. Cal.