On July 31, 2019, the federal district court for the District of Maryland denied oil and gas companies’ motion for a stay of the June 10 remand order returning the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore’s (Baltimore’s) climate change lawsuit to state court. The companies had sought to stay the remand order until the Fourth Circuit resolves their appeal. Instead, a stay agreed to by Baltimore will remain in place pending the resolution of the companies’ anticipated motion for a stay in the Fourth Circuit. Although the district court agreed with the companies that removal of the case based on application of federal law raised “complex and unsettled” legal questions, the court concluded that appellate jurisdiction in this case would likely extend only to the issue of whether the case was properly removed under the federal officer removal statute, an issue on which the court concluded the companies had not demonstrated a substantial likelihood of success. The court further found that the companies had not demonstrated irreparable harm since the appeal would only be rendered moot in the event a state court entered final judgment before the appeal was resolved. The court also was not persuaded that the cost of litigating in state court would cause irreparable injury and disagreed with the companies’ contention that federal courts were “uniquely qualified” to address the issues presented in the case. Regarding the harm to the opposing party and weighing the public interest, the district court found that the impacts of further delay of litigation on the merits of Baltimore’s claims weighed against a stay. The court also noted that even if the remand order were vacated, interim proceedings in state court “may well advance” the case’s resolution in federal court.

City of Baltimore lawsuit seeking to hold fossil fuel companies liable for climate change impacts.

Mayor & City Council of Baltimore v. BP p.l.c.

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Maryland Federal Court Declined to Stay Remand Order in Baltimore’s Climate Case Against Oil and Gas Companies; Stay to Remain in Place While Companies Seek Stay in Fourth Circuit

Filed

United States of America

Maryland

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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.

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A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

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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.

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Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

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The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

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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.

Coal is a combustible sedimentary rock formed from carbonised plant matter, rich in carbon and hydrocarbons, and occurring in several main types including hard coal and brown coal.

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

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.

Heavy precipitation refers to any form of weather where substances fall from the sky, including rain, snow, sleet, or hail.

Maryland Federal Court Declined to Stay Remand Order in Baltimore’s Climate Case Against Oil and Gas Companies; Stay to Remain in Place While Companies Seek Stay in Fourth Circuit

Risk

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector