A Connecticut Superior Court denied Exxon Mobil Corporation’s (Exxon’s) motion to strike the State of Connecticut’s claims that Exxon violated the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA) by engaging in a decades-long “systematic campaign of deception” regarding the connection between its products and climate change and by more recently engaging in a “greenwashing” campaign regarding the environmental benefits of its activities. First, the court concluded that federal law did not preclude Connecticut’s claims. Although the court adopted the Second Circuit Court of Appeals’ holding in <a href="https://www.climatecasechart.com/documents/second-circuit-rejected-new-york-citys-state-law-climate-claims-against-oil-companies_5cff">City of New York v. Chevron Corp.</a> that federal common law or the Clean Air Act would continue to govern regulation of interstate and international emissions, and therefore the production, sale, and use of fossil fuel products, the court found that Connecticut’s complaint did not seek that type of regulation but instead “seeks to regulate only the defendant’s marketing conduct related to those products.” Second, the court found that the complaint stated legally sufficient claims of unfair and deceptive actions or practices under CUTPA. The court noted that the law regarding the geographic reach of CUTPA was “unsettled” but concluded that it was not necessary to resolve the issue at this stage of the litigation because the complaint sufficiently alleged that some of the alleged tortious conduct (such as Exxon’s publication of “advertorials”) occurred in Connecticut. In addition, the court found that the complaint sufficiently alleged that Exxon’s statements “were intended to and did promote the sale of [its] products” and therefore were made “in the conduct of any trade or commerce” under CUTPA. The court also found that additional development of the factual record was required to determine certain issues relevant to whether Exxon’s statements fell within CUTPA’s scope. For example, the court found that “[a]dditional context” was needed to determine whether Exxon’s statements regarding climate change and fossil fuels’ role in producing climate change could be interpreted as statements of fact. Other issues that the court said it could not resolve on a motion to strike included (1) whether the complaint’s allegations were sufficient to give rise to a duty for Exxon to disclose information regarding aspects of its business that ran counter to statements it made about its efforts to reduce its carbon footprint and (2) whether the alleged greenwashing statements were likely to mislead a reasonable consumer. Third, the court found that it could not determine at this stage of the litigation whether Exxon’s statements constituted commercial speech or protected noncommercial speech under the First Amendment or whether some or all of Exxon’s alleged misconduct constituted protected petitioning activity under the Noerr-Pennington doctrine. Fourth, the court rejected Exxon’s contention that Connecticut’s request for an order requiring Exxon to fund a “corrective education campaign” to remedy alleged disinformation violated the First Amendment. The court also found that additional development of the factual record would be necessary to support Exxon’s argument that allowing Connecticut to pursue civil penalties and disgorgement of profits for more than five decades of allegedly unlawful conduct would violate due process.

Lawsuit seeking to hold Exxon Mobil Corporation liable for violation of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act in connection with alleged deceptive acts to create uncertainty about climate science.

State v. Exxon Mobil Corp.

<p>This entry was provided by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. Please see the terms of use for citation and licensing of third party data.</p>

Connecticut Trial Court Denied Motion to Strike State’s Claims that Exxon’s Climate Change-Related Statements Violated Unfair Trade Practices Act

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

People who are less able to respond to the effects of climate change due to having limited financial or physical assets

A subsidy is a direct or indirect payment to individuals or businesses, typically provided as a government cash payment or a specific tax reduction.

Zoning and spatial planning are both methods for guiding the distribution of people and activities in a space, and are regulatory restriction.

A ban is a legal action that prevents the sale or supply of a product or service, or that recalls a product from the market. Examples are bans on SF6, greenwashing, fossil fuel advertisement or single-use plastics.

A company that is owned wholly or partially by the state, typically operating in key sectors.

A financial entity operated or controlled by the state, often with a mandate for social or economic development.

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

A long-lived, colourless gas, chiefly emitted from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and cement production.

Actions to reduce emissions in energy generation and supply.

Air pollution involves harmful contaminants in the air, affecting both indoor and outdoor environments. It can lead to health issues like respiratory diseases and heart problems, and climate impacts such as global warming. Pollutants can damage plants, trees, habitats, and water bodies like rivers and lakes.

Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

Fossil gas, commonly known as natural gas, is a fossil fuel consisting chiefly of methane with smaller amounts of other hydrocarbons and trace gases, found in underground deposits.

People who have left their homes, whether through force, voluntarily, or a mixture of both

Any compulsory, unrequited payment to the government levied on corporations or individuals. This can be for environmental reasons, such as introducing a Carbon tax to set a price that emitters must pay for the greenhouse gases they emit.

This sector involves the wholesale and retail selling of goods.

This sector creates and distributes information and entertainment through television, radio, print, and digital platforms.

This sector provides communication services, software development, and IT solutions.

This sector involves activities that impart knowledge and skills to individuals, including formal schooling, vocational training and educational support.

Activities of government agencies and institutions that provide public services, enforce laws and manage public resources.

Activities that involve the cultivation of crops and raising of livestock for food, fibre, and other products essential for human life and industry.

Climate change can have a range of impacts on technological system. Extreme weather events can cause infrastructure failures like power outages or damage to roads and bridges, as well as the impacts from waste following natural disasters. Human activities also cause technological impacts, such as the risks posed by oil spillage and leaks.

Slow onset events evolve gradually from incremental changes over many years or from increased frequency or intensity of recurring events. As defined in the Cancun Adaptation Framework (2010), slow onset events include risks and impacts from rising temperatures, desertification, biodiversity loss, land and forest degradation, glacial retreat, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and salinization.

Connecticut Trial Court Denied Motion to Strike State’s Claims that Exxon’s Climate Change-Related Statements Violated Unfair Trade Practices Act

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance