The federal district court for the Northern District of Illinois agreed with the City of Chicago that the court did not have subject matter jurisdiction over the City’s lawsuit alleging that fossil fuel industry defendants’ alleged misrepresentations and concealment of the climate change harms associated with their products caused an acceleration of global warming and “devastating consequences” to Chicago and its people. The court found that the defendants had abandoned their contention that the court had jurisdiction based on federal common law. The court then concluded that it did not have jurisdiction under the federal officer removal statute, rejecting the defendants’ contention that under Seventh Circuit precedent the plaintiffs’ case fell within the scope of federal officer removal even though eight circuit courts of appeal had rejected removal in similar cases. The court found that the City had validly disclaimed claims based on the defendants’ provision of fossil fuels to the federal government for military and national defense purposes since the City’s claims were based not on that activity but on the alleged misrepresentation and deception. The court further found that other elements of federal officer removal were not satisfied: (1) the “timing of certain activities” and the “relationship of the activities to the crux of the City’s claims” did not support that the defendants were “acting under” a federal official; (2) the plaintiffs’ claims regarding the defendants’ conduct were “insufficiently connected” to any acts by the defendants under federal authority; and (3) the defendants did not have a “colorable” government contractor or other federal defense. The court denied the City’s request for fees, finding that the defendants’ arguments for removal based on the Seventh Circuit precedent were reasonable.

Lawsuit alleging that fossil fuel industry defendants' deception regarding the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions from their products resulted in harmful climate change impacts to Chicago.

City of Chicago v. BP p.l.c.

<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>

Illinois Federal Court Remanded Chicago’s Climate Case Against Fossil Fuel Defendants to State Court

Filed

The Climate Litigation Database

Find climate change litigation data and indicators for {text}.

{text} litigation

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law provides Climate Litigation Database, a comprehensive database of US and Global climate change caselaw

Quickly and easily search through the complete text of thousands of climate change law and policy documents from every country.

Search the Climate Litigation Database

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.

Extreme weather refers to events where a weather variable exceeds (or falls below) a threshold. Meaning it is significantly different from the average or usual weather pattern.

A drought is an extended period of unusually dry weather marked by a significant and sustained lack of precipitation, falling below a specific threshold over a large area for more than a month

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 whose health, both mental and physical, makes them more vulnerable to the effects of climate change

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 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.

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.

Illinois Federal Court Remanded Chicago’s Climate Case Against Fossil Fuel Defendants to State Court

Risk

Impacted group

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Finance