Citing the “time honored well-pleaded complaint rule,” the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the remand to D.C. Superior Court of the District of Columbia’s lawsuit asserting that fossil fuel industry defendants violated the D.C. Consumer Protection Procedures Act by materially misrepresenting their products’ climate change effects. The D.C. Circuit first found that the “artful pleading” exception to the well-pleaded complaint rule did not apply, rejecting the defendants’ argument that D.C.’s claims necessarily arose under the federal common law of interstate air pollution. The D.C. Circuit also found that the Grable exception to the well-pleaded complaint rule—which provides for federal jurisdiction when a claim necessarily raises a substantial and actually disputed federal issue that is capable of resolution in a federal court without disrupting the federal-state balance—did not apply because no federal issue was necessarily raised. The court rejected the defendants’ contention a federal issue was necessarily raised because the consumer protection claim would contravene federal law affirmatively promoting fossil fuel use. The D.C. Circuit also held that removal was not authorized under the federal officer removal statute because D.C.’s lawsuit was not “for or relating to” actions taken by the defendants “under color of federal office,” whether those actions were production of aviation fuel and other essential military products, compliance with orders of the Petroleum Administration for Defense, or ongoing commercial relationships between the defendants and the federal government. In addition, the D.C. Circuit found that there was not jurisdiction under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act because D.C.’s misrepresentation claims did not “aris[e] out of” or “in connection with” the defendants’ operations on the Outer Continental Shelf.

Lawsuit filed by the District of Columbia against oil and gas companies for allegedly violating the Consumer Protection Procedures Act by misleading consumers about “the central role their products play in causing climate change.”

District of Columbia 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>

D.C. Circuit Said District of Columbia’s Climate Case Against Fossil Fuel Companies Did Not Belong in Federal Court

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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

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

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

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.

Social protection systems consist of policies that help people manage social risks in order to prevent poverty and maintain decent incomes and living standards

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 with different national or cultural traditions from the dominant population

Social and cultural groups that share collective ancestral ties to the lands and natural resources where they live, occupy or from which they have been displaced

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.

The activities of industries that transforms raw materials into finished goods through industrial processes.

This sector involves the wholesale and retail selling of goods.

This sector involves activities to move goods and people, alongside the storage of products.

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

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

This sector includes firms and individuals offering specialised expertise in fields such as law, accounting, consulting, science and engineering.

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.

D.C. Circuit Said District of Columbia’s Climate Case Against Fossil Fuel Companies Did Not Belong in Federal Court

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Fossil fuel

Economic sector

Finance