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ARTICLE · 11 FEBRUARY 2022

State Law Climate Damage Cases (Still) Belong In State Court

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In the first appellate decision to decide the issue since the Supreme Court decision in BP P.L.C. v. Mayor & City Council of Baltimore, the 10th Circuit ruled this week that climate damage claims...

United StatesEnvironment
Seth Jaffe
Seth Jaffe
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In the first appellate decision to decide the issue since the Supreme Court decision in BP P.L.C. v. Mayor & City Council of Baltimore, the 10th Circuit ruled this week that climate damage claims brought by several Colorado counties should nonetheless still be heard in state court. The most important issue in the case was whether the Clean Air "completely preempted" state law claims. The Court held that it did not.

I remain skeptical that the Court is as apolitical as justices of all political stripes would have us believe, but I certainly think that the 10th Circuit got it right and I would both hope and expect SCOTUS to agree. This is my favorite part of the decision - and one that GOP-appointed justices who believe in federalism should be able to get behind:

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