Oil Giants Lose Hawaii Climate Appeal, Pushing Case to Trial (1) - Bloomberg Law

Oil Giants Lose Hawaii Climate Appeal, Pushing Case to Trial (1)

The Hawaii Supreme Court on Tuesday denied

The city and county of Honolulu is using well-trod tort law to argue that oil companies have knowingly deceived consumers about the climate change effects of fossil fuel use, according to justices on the state high court.

“We decline to unduly limit Hawai‘i’s ability to use its police powers to protect its citizens from alleged deceptive marketing,” Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald wrote in the majority opinion.

Oil companies did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit is one of many nationwide accusing companies of lying about global warming. Oil majors have tried to argue that the arguments are preempted by federal common law and the Clean Air Act to push for federal court jurisdiction—where they have a greater advantage of quashing the cases.

Judges, including those in Hawaii, have disagreed. Oil company appeals to have the cases remanded or dismissed have been largely refused by state and federal judges.

In a strongly worded and thematically separate concurring opinion, Justice Todd W. Eddins agreed with Recktenwald and wrote of state court judges’ responsibilities in the face of “imperiled” and “stunted” law out of federal courts—specifically, the US Supreme Court.

“When justices solicit cases to test their way against durable personal jurisdiction principles, a state occupying one of the world’s most geographically isolated land masses pays attention,” he wrote.

The case is City and County of Honolulu vs. Sunoco, Haw., No. SCAP-22-0000429, Decision 10/31/23.

To contact the reporter on this story: jhijazi@bloombergindustry.com

To contact the editors responsible for this story: mearls@bloomberglaw.com; jtaylor@bloombergindustry.com