In City of Baltimore v. BP, et al., court holds that nuisance and tort claims are preempted by federal law and beyond the limits of state law.
On July 10, 2024, a Baltimore City Circuit Court judge dismissed a lawsuit by the City of Baltimore against 25 fossil fuel manufacturers seeking to hold them liable on numerous state-law theories, including for alleged misrepresentations about the effects of their products on the climate. This marks the first time that a state court judge has dismissed in full one of the many lawsuits brought by state and local governments seeking damages from fossil fuel manufacturers for the effects of using fossil fuels on the climate.
In a 35-page opinion, the court held that all of Baltimore's state-law claims were preempted by federal common law and the federal Clean Air Act. The court rejected Baltimore's arguments that its case was based only on the defendants' marketing, and that it did not seek damages for fossil fuel emissions regulated by the federal government.
The court also rejected all of Baltimore's state-law claims on their merits. The court declined to extend nuisance law to products permitted and regulated by the government, without any allegation that the defendants deposited a dangerous product into the land or water. The court also dismissed failure to warn claims because Baltimore did not allege that its injury came from its own use or exposure to the defendants' fossil fuels. It further concluded that the alleged side effects of fossil fuels were not a design defect, that the city's trespass claim went beyond the limits of Maryland law, and that a Consumer Protection Act claim was barred by the statute of limitations, because the city was aware of the defendants' alleged conduct many years before filing suit.
The thorough and well-reasoned opinion adheres to the traditional limits of state tort law and may impact other courts deciding whether to allow ongoing climate change lawsuits to proceed. The U.S. Supreme Court is currently deciding whether to hear an appeal by fossil fuel manufacturers in a similar case brought by the City of Honolulu.
Jones Day represents CNX Resources Corporation, a natural gas company, in City of Baltimore.
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