The climate change movement was issued a massive blow on Wednesday after a trial judge permanently closed a Democrat-charged lawsuit claiming that big oil was to blame for climate-caused damages in the state.
In 2022, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin filed a lawsuit against the country’s largest oil companies, ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Phillips 66, Shell, as well as the American Petroleum Institute, claiming that the fossil fuel industry was worsening the effects of climate change, and therefore, causing damage to the state.
However, the case was tossed out on Wednesday by New Jersey Superior Court Judge Douglas Hurd, who ruled that lawful oil companies could not be held liable for worldwide emissions. The case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be reopened.
“Plaintiffs seek to regulate the nationwide—and even worldwide—marketing and distribution of lawful products on which billions of people outside of New Jersey rely to heat their homes, power their hospitals and schools, produce and transport their food, and manufacture countless items essential to the safety, wellbeing, and advancement of modern society,” said Hurd, who issued the ruling.
ENERGY SECRETARY WARNS AGAINST TREATING CLIMATE CHANGE AS ‘POLITICAL FOOTBALL’: SLOW-MOVING PROBLEM’
The Chevron logo is displayed at a Chevron gas station in Los Angeles, California. (Mario Tama)
Hurd said that the plaintiffs could not justly claim damages caused by nationwide emissions.
“Because Plaintiffs seek damages for alleged harms caused by interstate and international emissions and global warming, their claims cannot be governed by state law. Under our federal constitutional system, states cannot use their laws to resolve claims seeking redress for injuries allegedly caused by out-of-state and worldwide emissions,” Hurd said in the decision.
NJ AG Matthew Platkin sued big oil on claims that they were causing climate change. (Getty Images)
Energy experts told Fox News Digital that the dismissal sends a clear message that “energy policy should be set by elected officials, not litigated into existence by activist lawyers.”
“This ruling is a major victory for common sense and the rule of law. Climate activists have been using the courts to push their radical agenda, but judges are increasingly rejecting these baseless lawsuits that threaten energy security and economic stability,” Jason Isaac, CEO of the American Energy Institute and former Texas representative, said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital.
An Exxon gas station is seen on Aug. 5, 2024 in Austin, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Steve Milloy, senior fellow at the Energy & Environment Legal Institute and former Trump EPA transition team member, said that similar lawsuits could face the same fate because “the climate controversy is a political, not a legal one.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“Although Democrats don’t really understand this, political issues are on the ballot box, not the courtroom,” Milloy said.
Fox News Digital reached out to Platkin’s office for comment.
