The Vermont Superior Court hearing the State’s case against fossil fuel companies under the Vermont Consumer Protection Act (VCPA) denied the defendants’ motions for interlocutory review of the court’s denial of their motions to dismiss. The court rejected the defendants’ contentions that the court’s ruling turned on controlling questions of law, finding that issues identified by the defendants—whether the companies’ statements were within the scope of the VCPA, whether statements constituted commercial speech under the First Amendment, when VCPA claims accrue, the application of the VCPA to wholesale suppliers, and personal jurisdiction—instead involved questions of fact. The court also found that the prong of the interlocutory appeal analysis requiring that an immediate appeal may materially advance the termination of litigation was not satisfied.

Consumer protection lawsuit brought by the State of Vermont against fossil fuel companies alleging deceptive and unfair business practices in connection with the companies' sale of their products.

Vermont v. Exxon Mobil Corp.

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Vermont Court Denied Interlocutory Appeal Request for Denial of Motion to Dismiss State’s Consumer Protection Case Against Fossil Fuel Companies

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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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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.

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Vermont Court Denied Interlocutory Appeal Request for Denial of Motion to Dismiss State’s Consumer Protection Case Against Fossil Fuel Companies

Fossil fuel

Economic sector