The Fossil Fuel Industry’s State-by-State Strategy to Squash Accountability Lawsuits

The Supreme Court is weighing Suncor v. Boulder, a case over whether Boulder County can sue ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy for allegedly concealing the climate harms of their products. While that case moves forward, documents show industry-linked groups are pushing state lawmakers to pass laws that would block climate lawsuits entirely. The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a lobbying group that drafts model bills for state legislatures, has been recruiting sponsors for legislation that would bar future climate lawsuits against oil and gas companies, kill lawsuits already underway, and even apply retroactively. Five states — Utah, Tennessee, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Iowa — already passed narrower versions of this kind of immunity law this year, and ALEC's proposal goes further, also threatening to cut funding from any city, county, or school that adopts net-zero climate policies.

Separately, a similar bill in Congress, introduced by Rep. Harriet Hageman and Sen. Ted Cruz, would also shield the industry from liability. These efforts follow decades of fossil fuel funding for groups that questioned climate science, including tens of millions of dollars ExxonMobil gave to organizations like CFACT and ALEC between 1998 and 2019.

None of this changes your options for home energy upgrades or rebates right now. But it matters for the bigger picture: if these bills pass, companies could be shielded from paying for climate-related damages, even as communities face rising costs from extreme weather, heat, and flooding tied to a warming climate. Polling cited in the reporting shows most voters oppose giving oil and gas companies this kind of blanket protection.