Big Oil Is Seeking Protection From “Leftist Legal Crusades”
At the top of the fossil fuel industry’s legislative priorities are sweeping protections against liability for the climate disasters they knew burning fossil fuels would cause. Republicans in Congress are doing their best to help out.
The “Stop Climate Shakedowns Act,” sponsored by Ted Cruz and many other GOP lawmakers, hopes to insulate the fossil fuel industry from “leftist legal crusades,” that is, any consequences for their destructive actions. (Heather Diehl / Getty Images)
As fossil fuel giants face mounting lawsuits for allegedly deceiving the public about the environmental harm of their products, Republican lawmakers just borrowed a tactic from gun lobbyists’ playbook, proposing sweeping federal immunity for oil and gas companies and limiting compensation for communities struggling with the local costs of climate disasters.
The effort could also block all state-level regulations of greenhouse gases, a sweeping deregulatory effort that some legal experts said was unconstitutional.
The GOP lawmakers behind the plan together received more than $9.5 million from the oil and gas industry over their careers. Their legislation would deliver one of the fossil fuel lobby’s top policy priorities and kill climate lawsuits before they can reach trial.
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