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
Today, President Biden issued the first veto of his presidency. This action had been heavily telegraphed in advance and was widely expected. Nonetheless, this veto is extraordinarily significant....more
Last week, it was reported that the Texas Attorney General would "not approve any public security" which was purchased or issued by a major bank due to alleged discrimination against the firearms sector. In 2021, Texas had...more
Climate Change Litigation: Beginning in 2017, an array of state and local governments began pursuing claims against major fossil fuel producers — particularly the major oil companies (Chevron, Exxon, BP, Shell, and...more
Beginning in 2017, an array of state and local governments have pursued tort claims against major fossil fuel producers (e.g., the major oil companies) alleging, inter alia, common law claims of nuisance based upon the...more
Climate Change Tort Litigation -
Beginning in 2017, an array of state and local governments have pursued claims against major fossil fuel producers — particularly the major oil companies (Chevron, Exxon, BP, Shell, and...more
On August 24, 2022, the Texas Comptroller published a list of ten financial companies (only one of which is U.S.-based) and approximately three hundred and fifty funds that, pursuant to Texas law, all state governmental...more
The New York Times has reported that the State Financial Officers Association has "push[ed] Republican state treasurers, who are mostly elected officials and who are responsible for managing their state's finances, to use...more
The European Parliament has now "endorsed labeling some gas and nuclear energy projects as 'green.'" This designation will now enable these energy projects to have "access to hundreds of billions of euros in cheap loans and...more
The West Virginia State Treasurer, Wiley Moore--a Republican--recently threatened six major financial institutions with a boycott on doing business with West Virginia government entities. This move by the West Virginia state...more
ClientEarth, an environmental law organization, has filed a shareholder derivative lawsuit in the United Kingdom against Shell's board of directors for an alleged failure to adequately prepare Shell for the impact of climate...more