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Judge criticizes fishing group seeking damages from industry
A judge hinted he favors oil companies' request to move case to federal court, ending a string of industry losses over jurisdiction.
CLIMATEWIRE | A federal judge hearing a climate case brought by a West Coast fishing organization criticized the group Thursday and seemed sympathetic to the oil industry’s effort to move the case to federal court.
Judge Vince Chhabria called one of the key arguments of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations “frivolous” during a hearing in federal court in San Francisco on the industry’s effort to move the case out of California state court.
Chhabria’s comments suggest that the oil companies being sued could score a rare victory over whether cases seeking compensation for climate impacts should be heard in federal court or state court.
Fossil fuel companies have lost a series of key court rulings in their efforts to move cases to federal court, where they believe they have a better chance of winning.
In April, the Supreme Court declined to hear the oil industry argument for moving climate liability lawsuits brought by local governments to federal courts. The Supreme Court decision followed a series of decisions from federal appeals courts that rejected the oil industry plea and kept the climate cases in state court.
Nearly two dozen states and municipalities including Washington, D.C., and Colorado are seeking compensation for their costs dealing with climate impacts such as intensified storms.
The fishing association in 2018 sued major oil firms including Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp. and Shell PLC after algal blooms forced their crab fisheries to close several years in a row. The association says heat waves worsened by climate change fueled the growth of toxic organisms, and the oil companies knew for decades that burning fossil fuels can damage marine life.
The association’s lawsuit resembles other climate cases in its argument about why oil companies should be held liable and why cases should be heard in state court, said Karen Sokol, an environmental law professor at Loyola University New Orleans.
The association filed its lawsuit in state court, prompting oil companies to file a separate federal lawsuit to move the case to federal court.
Chhabria, the judge, said it appears “appropriate” for the case to be moved to federal court because it seems to call for federal class-action status.
“I can't really believe that we're spending time on this,” Chhabria told association lawyer Katie Jones of San Francisco, rebuking her for insisting that the lawsuit does not amount to a federal class-action case.
Industry lawyer Neal Manne of Houston said the association lawsuit differs from previous climate lawsuits because it involves impacts felt at the outer ocean floor and not in a state or municipality on land.
Near the end of the hearing, Chhabria hinted that he might move the case to federal court as he asked both lawyers whether such a decision would be problematic.
