{"id":3317,"date":"2026-04-17T21:00:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T01:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vr-news.net\/?p=3317"},"modified":"2026-04-17T21:00:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T01:00:08","slug":"federal-bill-would-put-big-oil-above-the-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vr-news.net\/?p=3317","title":{"rendered":"Federal Bill Would Put Big Oil Above the Law"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

After months of fossil fuel industry lobbying, Republican lawmakers have introduced federal legislation<\/a> that would give oil and gas companies immunity from any laws or lawsuits that aim to hold them accountable for their role in the climate crisis. <\/p>\n

Eleven U.S. states and dozens of city, county, and tribal governments collectively representing more than 1 in 4 Americans are currently taking major oil and gas companies to court to hold them accountable for deceiving the public about the dangers of fossil fuels and make them pay for the resulting damages. Many cases are heading toward discovery and trial after courts rejected Big Oil\u2019s efforts to stop them. <\/p>\n

The oil and gas industry and its allies have been lobbying<\/a> Congress and the Trump administration for more than a year to escape accountability. Last year, 16 Republican attorneys general proposed creating a \u201cliability shield\u201d<\/a> for fossil fuel companies modeled on a 2005 law protecting gun manufacturers from lawsuits. In January, the American Petroleum Institute announced<\/a> that killing state climate lawsuits is a top 2026 priority for the oil lobby. And a growing number of states have passed state-level laws <\/a>that aim to shield fossil fuel companies from legal accountability. Recent reporting from ProPublica found those bills are “part of a coordinated effort by groups linked to right-wing activist Leonard Leo.”<\/p>\n

Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity, said: <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cBig Oil companies have raked in massive profits at the pump while lying to the American people about the catastrophic harm of their products, and now they want to deny Americans their rightful day in court and stick taxpayers with the bill for the mess they made. If fossil fuel companies have done nothing wrong, why do they need immunity?\u201d<\/p>\n

Jay Inslee, the former three-term Washington Governor who has been sounding<\/a> the alarm<\/a> about this growing threat, said:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cEvery elected official who cares about the interests of their constituents more than those of corporate polluters should oppose this disgraceful proposal. Juries are a fundamental bastion of democracy, and it\u2019s beyond dangerous to allow powerful and wealthy corporations to shield themselves from ever having to face jurors\u2019 judgment.\u201d <\/p>\n

Background on U.S. Climate Accountability Lawsuits Against Big Oil:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eleven U.S. states \u2014 California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai`i, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont \u2014 and the District of Columbia, along with dozens of city, county, and tribal governments in California, Colorado, Hawai`i, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Puerto Rico, have active lawsuits<\/a> to hold major oil and gas companies accountable for deceiving the public about their products\u2019 role in climate change. These cases collectively represent more than 1 in 4 people living in the United States. <\/p>\n

Later this year, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider a case from Boulder, Colorado<\/a>. Boulder is one of a growing number of communities across the U.S. \u2014 including Honolulu, Hawai\u02bbi<\/a>, the District of Columbia<\/a>, and the states of Massachusetts<\/a>, Vermont<\/a>, Minnesota<\/a> and Connecticut<\/a> \u2014 whose climate deception lawsuits against Big Oil companies are advancing toward discovery and trial after courts denied the companies\u2019 motions to dismiss. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After months of fossil fuel industry lobbying, Republican lawmakers have introduced federal legislation that would give oil and gas companies immunity from any laws or lawsuits that aim to hold them accountable for their role in the climate crisis. Eleven U.S. states and dozens of city, county, and tribal governments collectively representing more than 1 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"registered_only","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[742],"class_list":["post-3317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ciencia-y-tecnologia","tag-vr-news-net"],"yoast_head":"\nFederal Bill Would Put Big Oil Above the Law - VR-NEWS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/vr-news.net\/?p=3317\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Federal Bill Would Put Big Oil Above the Law - VR-NEWS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After months of fossil fuel industry lobbying, Republican lawmakers have introduced federal legislation that would give oil and gas companies immunity from any laws or lawsuits that aim to hold them accountable for their role in the climate crisis. 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