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A federal judge on Monday ordered back to state court in California a climate change lawsuit brought by San Francisco and Oakland accusing six major oil companies of concealing their understanding of how fossil fuel consumption would accelerate global warming.
The lawsuits, filed as public nuisance complaints, “will be for the California courts to decide,” U.S. District Judge William Alsup wrote in Monday’s ruling.
The companies, including BP (NYSE:BP), Chevron (NYSE:CVX), ConocoPhillips (COP), Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) and Shell (SHEL), argued the case should be decided in federal court under laws governing the exploration, development or production of oil.
“Climate change is an issue of global magnitude and importance that requires a coordinated federal policy response, not a disjointed patchwork of state lawsuits,” a lawyer for Chevron (CVX) said.
The order is the latest loss on state-vs.-federal jurisdiction for fossil fuel companies that have been targeted for climate-related litigation by states and cities in recent years.
Last week, New Jersey’s Attorney General filed a similar climate lawsuit against the same five oil producers.
