A local state court in Pennsylvania recently dismissed an array of climate tort claims brought against major fossil fuel companies by a local government--in this case, Bucks County. Among the three dozen or so climate tort...more
On May 12, 2025, in a 5-2 decision, the Colorado Supreme Court held that the tort claims brought by local governments in Colorado against major fossil fuel companies concerning damages stemming from climate change could...more
Recently, both the State of Hawaii and the State of Michigan had announced that they would be pursuing litigation against fossil fuel companies concerning alleged damages stemming from the companies' contribution to climate...more
5/5/2025
/ Climate Change ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Executive Orders ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Preemption ,
State and Local Government ,
Trump Administration
In December 2024, the State of New York enacted the “Climate Change Superfund Act,” which would impose retroactive fines on fossil fuel producers for greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. (New York was...more
Regulatory Updates -
There have been a couple of noteworthy developments in recent weeks concerning the mandatory climate disclosure regime enacted by California. These developments relate to SB 253 and SB 261, which...more
1/8/2025
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
California ,
Climate Change ,
Damages ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Policies ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Montana ,
State Attorneys General ,
Sustainability
Last week, the State of Maine became the latest state or local government to sue the major fossil fuel companies for damages related to climate change. There are around three dozen lawsuits bringing common law and state tort...more
Three years ago, a court in the Netherlands had ruled that Shell--a multinational fossil fuel company based in the Netherlands--had the obligation to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by forty-five percent by 2030, relative...more
Despite the recent disbandment of the SEC’s Climate & ESG Task Force, the SEC is continuing to pursue enforcement actions concerning environmental issues, including greenwashing. Notably, over the past several weeks, the SEC...more
Over the past several years, there have been more than three dozen lawsuits launched against the major fossil fuel companies seeking damages due to climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions. These claims are based...more
This week, the Hawaii Supreme Court--in response to certified questions of law from the federal district court in Hawaii--held that the insurance policies purchased by fossil fuel companies in Hawaii would not provide...more
A couple of weeks ago, a lawsuit brought by the State of Connecticut against a major fossil fuel company, alleging various violations of the consumer protection laws in Connecticut (specifically, the Connecticut Unfair Trade...more
About a month ago, one of the myriad climate change tort lawsuits brought by state and local governments against major fossil fuel producers was dismissed by a state court judge in Baltimore, Maryland. (These lawsuits have...more
Regulatory Updates -
Governor Newsom (D-CA) recently proposed a two-year delay to California’s sweeping new mandatory climate disclosures, which apply to all large companies—public or private—doing business in California....more
8/2/2024
/ Chevron Deference ,
Climate Change ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Sustainability
Puerto Rico has become the latest governmental entity to launch a lawsuit against the major fossil fuel companies concerning tort claims related to climate change. These lawsuits have proliferated in state courts in recent...more
Credit Agricole SA, the second-largest bank in France, will no longer participate in fossil fuel financing. Specifically, a spokesperson for this bank stated that it would “no longer participate in bond issuances for oil and...more
A coalition of Republican state attorneys-general representing nineteen states (Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South...more
Last week, the Attorney General of Michigan announced that her office “will begin seeking proposals from attorneys and law firms . . . to pursue litigation related to the climate change impacts caused by the fossil fuel...more
This week, “BNP Paribas SA, the European Union's biggest bank” stated that it “is no longer participating in conventional bond issuance for” “oil and gas producers.” In essence, BNP Paribas has announced that it will cease...more
On May 10, 2024, the Fifth Circuit rejected an attempt by the States of Texas, Louisiana, West Virginia, and Utah to invalidate an SEC rule “requiring funds to disclose their votes on environmental, social, and governance...more
Earlier this week, a state court judge in Oklahoma issued a temporary restraining order that blocks--for now--enforcement of an Oklahoma law that deprives companies deemed to boycott the fossil fuel industry of the ability to...more
As recently reported by Columbia Law School's Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, “the number of climate-related cases filed globally each year has increased from a handful in the early 2000s to a few hundred annually since...more
Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit issued an order dismissing the Juliana litigation. In this case, the plaintiffs had asserted that the government had knowingly violated their due process rights by encouraging and permitting the...more
On January 9, 2024, a Delaware state court judge issued his opinion on the various motions to dismiss filed in the case brought by the State of Delaware against the major fossil fuel companies. (This case is one of...more
The Mintz Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Working Group developed this ESG primer to provide an overview of the current state of affairs in the United States with respect to the ESG issues that businesses...more
10/30/2023
/ Affirmative Action ,
Antiboycott Requirements ,
Boycotts ,
CFTC ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Enforcement ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Greenwashing ,
Net Zero ,
New Regulations ,
Rulemaking Process ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders ,
State and Local Government ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Students for Fair Admissions v University of North Carolina
Today, the Supreme Court denied the writ of certiorari filed by the major oil companies in a pair of significant climate change cases. Specifically, the fossil fuel companies had sought review of a decision by the Third...more