Supreme Court Case Could Limit Future Lawsuits Against Fossil Fuel Industry
The court heard arguments on a technical legal question in a case that demands fossil fuel companies help pay for the costs of dealing with climate change.
Heavy rains in Baltimore caused severe damage in 2014.Credit...Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post, via Getty Images
Jan. 19, 2021
The Supreme Court heard a case on climate change on Tuesday that could help shape the fate of dozens of similar lawsuits across the country.
The oral argument in BP P.L.C. v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, No. 19-1189, was not about whether climate change is real or caused by greenhouse gases generated by humans. The hearing was not even about whether fossil fuel companies should pay Baltimore for the costs of climate change, which is the point of the underlying lawsuit.