Litigation On U.S. Energy Companies Threatens More Than Just Them

Litigation On U.S. Energy Companies Threatens More Than Just Them

Share to Linkedin The EU's recent decision to boycott most oil imports from Russia by year-end will likely mean that gasoline – or petrol – prices across the pond will reach record levels this summer. In the U. S., surging demand for natural gas combined with the recent closure of nuclear and coal plants has experts forecasting rising energy prices and rolling blackouts for millions of people across the country this summer. Meanwhile, after promises of a huge payday by plaintiffs' lawyers, a number of U. S. municipalities have pursued litigation that will only exacerbate high energy prices and weaken our nation's energy security. Since 2017, more than two dozen climate lawsuits brought by mayors, county commissioners, and state attorneys general have been filed; while many of these have been summarily dismissed by federal judges, but some are ongoing. To add further credence that this is more an attempted money-grab than policy solution, litigation is focused solely on U. S. and some European energy companies, neglecting foreign state-owned companies like Venezuela's PDVSA, Saudi Aramco, or Russia's Gazprom or Rosneft. Foreign state-owned energy companies have just as an important role to play in slowing the effects of climate change, yet the