Connecticut Organizations Urge Federal Leaders to Protect Climate Accountability Efforts
Why it matters: Federal legal immunity for the fossil fuel industry could block Connecticut's lawsuit against ExxonMobil and its proposed Climate Change Superfund.
- 78 Connecticut organizations sent a letter to Senator Richard Blumenthal, expressing concern over the fossil fuel industry's push for federal legal immunity from climate-related lawsuits and state laws.
- Connecticut is currently suing ExxonMobil for violating state consumer protection laws through alleged deception about climate change, an effort that could be blocked by federal immunity.
- Connecticut legislators have proposed a 'Climate Change Superfund' to make polluters pay for climate damages, a policy also at risk if federal immunity is granted.
- Sierra Club of Connecticut, PACE, The EV Club of CT, and People for Planet and Democracy are coordinating advocacy efforts to ensure states retain legal tools to hold fossil fuel companies accountable.
- The letter emphasizes that communities are bearing the financial, environmental, and personal impacts of the escalating climate crisis, and must retain access to legal and legislative tools to hold fossil fuel companies accountable.
Seventy-eight Connecticut organizations are urging federal leaders to protect state-level climate accountability efforts, warning that fossil fuel industry lobbying for federal legal immunity could undermine Connecticut's ability to hold polluters like ExxonMobil accountable for climate damages and consumer protection violations. This multi-state effort aims to ensure that states can continue to pursue lawsuits and legislation, such as a proposed 'Climate Change Superfund,' to shift the financial burden of climate change from taxpayers to the corporations responsible.
