Some of the world’s largest energy companies received a double whammy of bad news from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in a series of cases brought by California communities attempting to hold the companies liable for the costs associated with coping with climate change and rising sea levels.
The oil companies were on the wrong side of two published decisions written by Circuit Judge Sandra Ikuta, one of the court’s most conservative judges. In one, the court refused to overturn a ruling from U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria of the Northern District of California siding with plaintiffs motion to remand claims brought by plaintiffs including the County of San Mateo to state court. In the other, the court reversed decisions from Chhabria’s Northern District colleague U.S. District Judge William Alsup finding there was federal jurisdiction in lawsuits brought by the cities of Oakland and San Francisco and dismissing them.
