Exxon, other oil companies defeat climate lawsuit by Puerto Rican towns

By Mike Scarcella

Sept 12 (Reuters) - Exxon XOM.N, Shell SHEL.L and several other major energy companies convinced a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit in Puerto Rico accusing them of misleading the public about climate change and conspiring to suppress clean energy alternatives.

U.S. District Judge Silvia Carreño-Coll in a ruling on Thursday said claims from 37 Puerto Rican municipalities against Exxon, Shell and others, including BP and Chevron, were filed outside of the four-year window for antitrust plaintiffs to sue.

Carreño-Coll dismissed the claims against Exxon, Shell, Chevron, BP and two other companies with prejudice, which means they cannot be refiled, but left room for the plaintiffs to amend their case against some other defendants.

The towns could have sued earlier since they “knew or should have known of the numerous lawsuits and the reports linking defendants to climate change and, in turn, climate change to storms, including in Puerto Rico,” the judge said.

The municipalities alleged in their 2022 lawsuit that the oil companies worked together to undermine alternative energy sources and to fund a marketing campaign to deny climate change.

The lawsuit sought damages tied to the destruction caused to Puerto Rico by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017.

Melissa Sims, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said they will move ahead with the litigation, including an appeal.

A lawyer for Chevron, Ted Boutrous, said in a statement that the claims were clearly time-barred and that "the civil justice system exists to resolve current disputes."

Exxon, Shell and BP did not immediately respond to requests for comment. All of the defendants have denied wrongdoing.

Dozens of U.S. state and local municipalities have sued oil companies to seek monetary damages for their alleged role in contributing to climate change.

Judges have dismissed some of the cases, while others are pending. In one, the U.S. Supreme Court in January turned away an effort by energy firms to dismiss a lawsuit by Honolulu.

The defendants in the Puerto Rico case said the complaint was “premised on the breathtaking notion that defendants may be held liable for all carbon emissions, everywhere and at any time.”

The case is The Municipalities of Bayamon et al. v. Exxon Mobil Corp. et al., U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, case No. 3:22-cv-01550.

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