The city of Charleston, South Carolina, is dropping its lawsuit that sought to hold fossil fuel companies liable for harms from the effects of rising global temperatures after its dismissal last month by a South Carolina judge.
Circuit Judge Roger Young sided with Chevron, Exxon Mobil and other oil majors — ruling in August that the city did not have grounds to pursue damages under South Carolina tort law and was preempted from pursuing claims under the Constitution and the Clean Air Act.
The city had until Sept. 5 to appeal, but the council decided to take no further action, said Deja Knight McMillan, a spokesperson for the city. She provided no further details.
Theodore Boutrous, a partner at the firm Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher, representing Chevron said Young’s decision was part of a “growing chorus” of climate liability lawsuit dismissals by federal and state courts, including in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Puerto Rico.
