The federal district court for the District of Hawai‘i remanded the cases brought by the County of Maui seeking to hold fossil fuel companies liable for climate change-related damages. The court rejected three grounds for federal jurisdiction because the Ninth Circuit rejected them in City of Oakland v. BP p.l.c., 969 F.3d 895 (9th Cir. 2020): (1) that the plaintiffs’ claims arose under federal common law; (2) that federal law preempted the claims; and (3) that the claims necessarily raised disputed and substantial federal issues (Grable jurisdiction). The court then concluded that because the plaintiffs elected to pursue claims based on the companies’ alleged concealment of the climate change risks of fossil fuels and not on the defendants’ extraction and production of fossil fuels, their claims did not relate to the companies’ activities on the Outer Continental Shelf, under the direction of federal officers, or on federal enclaves, and the companies therefore established no other basis for federal jurisdiction. With respect to federal-officer jurisdiction, the district court noted that this case was similar to County of San Mateo v. Chevron Corp. in which the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court finding that the federal-officer removal statute did not provide jurisdiction. The Hawai‘i district court found that any additional evidence provided by the companies in these cases did not establish that the companies acted under a federal officer with respect to oil and gas leases, operation of a National Petroleum Reserve, or supplying to the strategic petroleum reserve; the court also found no causal connection between the plaintiffs’ concealment-based claims and actions the companies contended were taken at the direction of a federal officer. In addition, the court found that the companies made only conclusory assertions that colorable federal defenses existed.

Lawsuit seeking damages and other relief from fossil fuel companies for alleged conduct that the City and County of Honolulu contends actually and proximately caused climate change impacts.

County of Maui v. Sunoco LP

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Hawai‘i Federal Court Sent Maui’s Climate Case Back to State Court; Fossil Fuel Companies Appealed

Filed

United States of America

Hawaii

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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

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

The release of heat-trapping gases, primarily from human activities such as burning fossil fuels, agriculture and industry.

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.

Jobs that contribute to preserving or restoring the environment. We include jobs which require a high amount of green skills or which spend much of their time on green activities, as well as jobs transforming polluting industries.

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

Any substance with chemical properties that can cause physical harm to people or damage the environment, including ammonia, carbon monoxide, phosphine, chlorine, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, pesticides, dioxins, microplastics, benzene, asbestos, aflatoxins, fluoride, methanol, and toxins from marine sources.

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.

Hawai‘i Federal Court Sent Maui’s Climate Case Back to State Court; Fossil Fuel Companies Appealed

Risk

Just transition

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Finance