In the District of Columbia’s lawsuit alleging that fossil fuel companies violated D.C.’s Consumer Protection Procedures Act by misleading consumers about their products’ role in causing climate change, the court held that an amendment exempting claims brought by the District from the District of Columbia Anti-SLAPP (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation) Act was constitutional. The D.C. Attorney General proposed the amendment in 2021 to “clarify that government enforcement suits are not subject to” the Anti-SLAPP Act and referenced this action. The amendment was enacted through temporary and emergency laws beginning in November 2021 and was permanently codified in 2023. The court rejected the fossil fuel companies’ arguments that the exemption violated the First Amendment, was impermissibly retrospective, and was an impermissible bill of attainder that targeted the defendants by specifically attempting to insulate this lawsuit. Because the exemption was constitutional, the court denied as moot the companies’ special motions to dismiss pursuant to the Anti-SLAPP Act.

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.

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In D.C. Consumer Protection Suit Against Fossil Fuel Companies, Court Upheld Constitutionality of Anti-SLAPP Act Exemption for D.C. Enforcement Actions

Filed

United States of America

District of Columbia

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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

Social inclusion is the process of improving the terms on which individuals and groups take part in society—improving the ability, opportunity, and dignity of those disadvantaged on the basis of their identity.

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

Activities of industries that extract natural resources, such as mining, oil, and gas, for commercial use.

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

In D.C. Consumer Protection Suit Against Fossil Fuel Companies, Court Upheld Constitutionality of Anti-SLAPP Act Exemption for D.C. Enforcement Actions

Impacted group

Just transition

Fossil fuel

Economic sector