A judge in Washington state has denied the oil and gas industry’s attempt to derail the first climate lawsuits from tribal governments to accuse energy producers of deceiving the public about climate change.
King County Superior Court Judge James Rogers on Wednesday denied three of four motions to dismiss the lawsuits brought by the Shoalwater Bay and Makah Indian tribes.
The move comes as the U.S. Supreme Court is poised in its next term to consider the industry’s assertion that federal law bars local and state governments from suing the industry for compensation for the effects of climate change.
The tribal governments filed suit in state court in 2023 against Exxon Mobil, Shell and other oil giants. The lawsuits accuse the oil industry of “deceptive and unfair conduct” and ask that companies “pay for the damage their deceptive conduct has caused and will cause for decades to come.”
