Public Policy Group Argues Energy Manufacturers Should Not Be Liable for Climate Change Injuries

Partner Phil Goldberg and Of Counsel Christopher Appel have filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in a lawsuit seeking to hold energy manufacturers liable for injuries associated with global climate change. The suit is one of more than a dozen brought by municipalities around the country that seek money damages from energy manufacturers for injuries allegedly resulting from climate change. 

The brief explains that climate change tort litigation has been rejected in all forms at every level of the judiciary. It also discusses the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in AEP v. Connecticut, 564 U.S. 410, in which the Court unanimously held that there is “no room for a parallel track” of tort litigation over climate change policy. Goldberg and Appel assert that innovation, not litigation, should drive solutions to climate change, and that governments must work collaboratively with manufacturers to develop ways to reduce potential harms to the environment. They filed the brief on behalf of the National Association of Manufacturers. 

Goldberg is co-chair of Shook’s Public Policy Group, and Managing Partner of the firm’s Washington, D.C. office.

The case is City of Oakland v. BP P.L.C., No. 18-16663 (9th Cir.).