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#SCOTUS Sides With #Oil Companies in #Louisiana #Coastal Lawsuits
The companies had asked the justices to clear the way to move #environmental lawsuits out of #state courts, to friendlier #federal venues.
#law #climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #environment #PublicHealth #MarineWildlife #FossilFuels #money
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/17/us/politics/supreme-court-oil-louisiana.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
#SCOTUS agreed Friday that #energy companies facing lawsuits over #environmental damage to Louisiana’s #coast from #oil & #gas production can move the challenges from #state courts into friendlier #federal venues.
The ruling is a significant victory for oil companies, led by #Chevron & #ExxonMobil, in their legal battle with #Louisiana state officials over who should pay for the state’s #coastal #erosion. The companies have been supported by the #Trump admin.
The justices unanimously agreed to allow the #oil companies to fight the lawsuits in #federal court rather than #state court.
“Congress has long authorized federal officers & their agents to remove suits brought against them in state court to federal court,” Justice #ClarenceThomas wrote.
#law #climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #environment #PublicHealth #habitats #wildlife #FossilFuels #money
The case, #Chevron USA Inc v #Plaquemines Parish, LA, focused on a narrow question: whether the #oil companies could remove cases over #environmental damage from #state to #federal court. But the case has been closely watched by litigants in other #climate lawsuits because state courts are generally thought to be more receptive to people who sue over damages caused by #ClimateChange, including activists & state officials.
#law #ClimateCrisis #PublicHealth #wildlife #FossilFuels #money
“Justice” #ClarenceThomas explained that the #oil company had cleared the bar required to move the case into federal court because the lawsuit dealt with oil production in #Louisiana dating back to WWII, when #Chevron refined crude oil into aviation #gasoline for the #US #military.
He wrote that Chevron had shown that its #wartime production of crude oil related to its wartime aviation-gasoline refining for the military, a #federal priority.
Clarence Thomas's bootstrapping argument regarding federal jurisdiction over this case is pure invention, like many of his and Samuel Alito's arguments
I mean, it's pure invention in the sense that all law is invented. But this isn't Thomas's invention. It's a longstanding mechanism for providing a check on states that might try to use their courts inappropriately.
Federal removal is nothing new, and the Court unanimously applied the longstanding rules to this case, pointing out that federal removal covers exactly this sort of situation.
@volkris @Nonilex
Thanks. I know how common federal removal is.