A District of Columbia Superior Court dismissed a lawsuit alleging that Washington Gas Light Company—a gas company regulated by the D.C. Public Service Commission (PSC)—engaged in misleading and deceitful marketing in violation of the Consumer Protection Procedures Act (CPPA). The plaintiffs alleged that the defendant’s descriptions of its product as “clean” and “sustainable” were misleading. The court ruled that the CPPA explicitly exempted gas companies regulated by the PSC from the court’s subject matter jurisdiction.

Lawsuit alleging that utility and natural gas supplier misleadingly advertised its natural gas products and services as clean and sustainable.

Client Earth v. Washington Gas Light Co.

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D.C. Court Dismissed Greenwashing Case Against Gas Company

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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 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.

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.

Activities that involve planning, designing and building infrastructure, residential, and commercial structures.

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

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.

D.C. Court Dismissed Greenwashing Case Against Gas Company

Policy instrument

Fossil fuel

Economic sector