President Donald Trump’s plan to revoke the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) greenhouse gas (GHG) endangerment finding may have unintended consequences for its plan to prevent states from pursuing compensation for climate change-related damages.
While the administration argues in lawsuits against four states that the Clean Air Act (CLA) preempts the states from attempting to hold energy companies liable for climate change harms, if EPA rules that the CLA does not require the federal regulation of GHGs, oil and gas companies may find themselves as defendants in other legal actions.
“There is great concern that reversing the finding would open the door to a lot more nuisance lawsuits against all types of energy companies,” said Bracewell’s Jeff Holmstead, as quoted by Heatmap News. “It would eliminate one of the best arguments that oil companies have used to get lawsuits against them dismissed,” he added.
