Honolulu climate case against oil cos can go to trial -Hawaii top court - Reuters

Honolulu climate case against oil cos can go to trial -Hawaii top court | Reuters

Honolulu climate case against oil cos can go to trial -Hawaii top court

[1/2]The logo of British multinational oil and gas company Shell is displayed during the LNG 2023 energy trade show in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, July 12, 2023. REUTERS/Chris Helgren Acquire Licensing Rights

- Summary
- Companies

- Court rejects argument that federal law bars state lawsuit
- Honolulu seeks to hold oil majors responsible for climate damage

Nov 1 (Reuters) - Hawaii's highest court has allowed a lawsuit by Honolulu accusing fossil fuel companies, including Chevron Corp, Exxon Mobil Corp and Shell Plc, of deceiving the public about climate change to go ahead to trial.

In a unanimous opinion on Tuesday, the Hawaii Supreme Court rejected the companies' argument that the lawsuit seeks to regulate emissions or interstate commerce, powers reserved for the federal government.

It said the case instead focused on allegedly misleading statements the companies made, which Honolulu claims led to climate change-caused property and infrastructure damage.

"This case concerns torts committed in Hawaii that caused alleged injuries in Hawaii," Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald wrote for the court.

He rejected the companies' argument that the federal Clean Air Act overrides Honolulu's claims under state law, saying that the federal law did not "occupy the entire field of emissions regulation" or directly conflict with state law.

"We decline to unduly limit Hawaii's ability to use its police powers to protect its citizens from alleged deceptive marketing," the judge wrote.

"This is a good day for advancing our efforts to help Honolulu survive the costs and consequences of the climate crisis," Matthew Gonser, executive director of Honolulu's Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency, said in a statement.

Chevron said in a statement that it disagreed with the decision.

"Under our federal constitutional structure, a Hawaiian court applying Hawaiian law is not the appropriate authority to reshape interstate and international activities in a major sector of the economy," the company said.

"We do not believe the courtroom is the right venue to address climate change," Shell said in a statement.

Three other defendants, BP, Sunoco and ConocoPhillips, declined to comment. Exxon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In its lawsuit, filed in 2020, Honolulu said that the companies knew for decades that burning fossil fuels would lead to climate change, but worked to conceal that fact from the public.

It said that heat waves linked to climate change had already stressed the city's electrical grid, and that a wastewater treatment plant would need to be retrofitted against sea level rise at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars, among other harms. It sought to hold the companies responsible for the costs of climate change, though it did not give an exact damages figure.

The defendants tried to move the case to federal court but were rebuffed by the U.S. Supreme Court in April. Similar cases filed by local governments in California, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, New Jersey and Rhode Island have also been sent back to state courts.

None of the lawsuits brought by local governments over climate change has yet gone to trial.

The case is City and County of Honolulu v. Sunoco LP, Hawaii Supreme Court, No. SCAP-22-0000429.

For Chevron: Melvyn Miyagi of Watanabe Ing

For Shell: Joachim Cox of Cox Fricke

For Sunoco: C. Michael Heihre of Cades Schutte

For ConocoPhillips: Crystal Rose of Lung Rose Voss Wagnild

For BP: Lisa Bail of Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel

For Exxon: Paul Alston of Dentons US

For Honolulu: Deputy Corporation Counsel Robert Kohn

Read more:

US Supreme Court rebuffs Exxon, Chevron appeals in climate cases

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Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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