A Vermont judge has delivered a legal victory to the state, rejecting the oil and gas industry’s request to dismiss a lawsuit that accuses companies like Exxon Mobil of deceiving consumers about climate change.
Vermont Superior Court Judge Megan Shafritz in a December ruling sided with state officials who want major oil companies to pay up for their contributions to warming the planet. The decision is the latest of its kind in a yearslong tug-of-war between dozens of local governments nationwide and the oil industry, which has pushed to scrap similar cases or move them to more favorable courts.
State Attorney General Charity Clark — a Democrat who inherited the 2021 lawsuit from her predecessor — celebrated Vermont’s win with a post on X, calling the ruling a “happy update” in her office’s consumer case against Exxon, Shell and other companies.
“The court denied the defendants’ motions to dismiss and allowed every claim of our case to proceed!” Clark wrote. “Vermonters deserved to know the truth about fossil fuels.”
