Oil and gas companies told an appeals court Tuesday that dozens of Puerto Rican towns missed their opportunity to sue the fossil fuel industry for contributing to a 2017 hurricane that killed thousands of people, marking a new bid to quash a climate case based on federal law used against the Mafia.
The industry assertion comes as 37 Bayamón municipalities appeal a 2025 federal court ruling that found the local governments failed to meet the legal deadline for filing a lawsuit that argued oil majors misled the public about the dangers of burning fossil fuels.
The claims in the lawsuit “all accrued” when Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico in September 2017, “at which point they knew or should have known of their injuries and who allegedly caused them,” attorneys for Exxon Mobil, Chevron, BP and others told the 1st U.S. Court of Appeals. “Everything plaintiffs needed to file their complaint was already in the public record years before they filed suit.”
Lawyers for the towns did not respond to a request for comment.
