Commonwealth of Puerto Rico v. Exxon Mobil Corp.

On May 2, 2025, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico voluntarily dismissed without prejudice its climate change lawsuit against fossil fuel industry defendants. The filing did not comment on reasons for the withdrawal. The voluntary dismissal came several weeks after President Trump issued the “Protecting American Energy from State Overreach” <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2025-06379">executive order</a> directing the U.S. Attorney General to take action to stop continuation of civil actions brought by states that burden use of domestic energy resources and two days after the U.S. Department of Justice filed lawsuits seeking to block the States of <a href="https://climatecasechart.com/case/united-states-v-hawaii/">Hawai‘i</a> and <a href="https://climatecasechart.com/case/united-states-v-michigan/">Michigan</a> from filing climate lawsuits against fossil fuel companies. On April 25, 2025, American Energy Institute—a trade organization “representing American energy producers, suppliers, and affiliated businesses that support free markets”—sent a <a href="https://americanenergyinstitute.com/updates/dear-governor-gonzales-colon/">letter</a> to Puerto Rico Governor Jenniffer González-Colón, who was elected in November 2024 and is a member of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico and the Republican Party. The letter urged the Governor to direct the Secretary of Justice to withdraw Puerto Rico’s lawsuit, to file amicus briefs in lawsuits brought by San Juan and other Puerto Rican municipalities in support of dismissal of the cases with prejudice, to appoint judges “who will respect the separation of powers and leave political issues to the democratically elected branches,” and to discourage state contracts with outside counsel “who are using public legal engagements to advance far-left political objectives.”

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