A coalition of towns in Puerto Rico is challenging a federal judge’s decision to toss the first U.S. climate case to accuse the oil industry of engaging in racketeering.
Bayamón and 36 other municipalities filed Monday in the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, seeking to overturn a 2025 ruling that found the governments waited too long to file a lawsuit claiming oil majors misled the public about the dangers of burning fossil fuels.
Judge Silvia Carreño-Coll of the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico last September sided with the fossil fuel industry, which argued that the towns that sought compensation for the 2017 hurricane season that killed thousands had missed a four-year statute of limitations to bring their case.
But the appeal argues Carreño-Coll, a Trump appointee, got it wrong. The municipalities said they filed suit in 2022, as soon as they could prove the oil companies’ activity could be linked to intensifying storms.
