A New Jersey judge on Wednesday tossed out the state's lawsuit over climate misinformation against ExxonMobil, Shell Oil, Chevron, BP, ConocoPhillips and the American Petroleum Institute, ruling only federal law can be used to regulate nationwide emissions.
"Only federal law can govern plaintiffs' interstate and international emissions claims because 'the basic scheme of the Constitution so demands,' " New Jersey Superior Court Judge Douglas Hurd ruled, according to The Washington Free Beacon. Hurd dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning it cannot be reopened.
The state's complaint accused the defendants of knowingly selling products that cause global warming and sought to force them to pay billions of dollars in damages, the Free Beacon reported. It also alleged the companies waged a decades-long campaign to hide the dangers of their products.
The office of New Jersey Democrat Attorney General Matthew Platkin said it would appeal the ruling.
"We are disappointed in today's decision, which allows some of the country's most powerful companies to escape accountability for hiding the truth and misleading New Jerseysans about the role their products play in causing climate change," a spokeswoman with the office told the Free Beacon.
"The trial court's decision is wrong, and inconsistent with decisions in other states, and we are appealing immediately. We will not let companies get away with putting profit above public safety."
Platkin filed the lawsuit in 2022, alleging that because of "the fossil fuel industry's lies and deceit, the State has paid billions of dollars to clean up climate change-induced disasters like Superstorm Sandy; to fortify the Jersey Shore from future storms; and to protect its people, businesses, infrastructure, and natural resources from a myriad of other climate change hazards."
The lawsuit also cited that the defendants' "tortious deception continues to have grave consequences for the State and its residents." It said Tropical Storm Isaias in August 2020 left more than 1.4 million homes and businesses in the dark. Also, in 2021, "the remnants of Hurricane Ida swept through New Jersey, leaving behind a trail of death and destruction. At least 30 people died statewide — more than in any other state — even though the storm first made landfall 1,300 miles away and was no longer a hurricane by the time it arrived in New Jersey."
Theodore Boutrous Jr., an attorney for Chevron, said in a statement to the Free Beacon that Hurd's ruling "joins the growing and nearly unanimous consensus among both federal and state courts across the country."
"These types of claims are precluded and preempted by federal law and must be dismissed under clear U.S. Supreme Court precedent," Boutrous said. "As the Court rightly held, 'the leading and most persuasive case supporting dismissal is the Second Circuit decision in the City of New York. There, the federal appeals court rejected the availability of state tort law in the climate change context.' "
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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