Makah Indian Tribe v. Exxon Mobil Corp.

On December 20, 2023, two Tribes—the Makah Indian Tribe and the Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe—filed separate lawsuits in Washington Superior Court alleging that fossil fuel companies misled consumers and the public about the dangers of climate change. The complaints alleged that this “successful climate deception campaign” inflated and sustained the market for fossil fuels, leading to increased greenhouse gas emissions and “devastating” climate change impacts to the Tribes and their reservations. The Tribes asserted claims under Washington’s public nuisance statute and the Washington Product Liability Act. The Tribes requested that the court order the companies to abate the nuisance, including through the establishment of abatement funds for the Tribes to use to remediate and adapt their reservation lands, natural resources, and infrastructure. The Tribes also requested compensatory damages, pre- and post-judgment interest, and attorneys’ fees and costs.