Appeals court rejects New York City's greenwashing suit against oil giants
A New York appeals court on Thursday upheld the dismissal of New York City's lawsuit against ExxonMobil, Shell and BP. The city said the firms misled buyers about their gas, but the judges said the ads would not fool a reasonable buyer. The city says it is weighing its next steps as similar cases reach the Supreme Court.
New York City's effort to make big oil companies pay over their climate claims hit another wall Thursday.
A panel of five judges on a state appeals court upheld a lower court's ruling. That ruling threw out the city's lawsuit against ExxonMobil, Shell and BP. All five judges agreed.
The city sued in April 2021 under its consumer protection law. It said the companies misled buyers by calling their gas "cleaner" and "emissions-reducing" while hiding the harm. The city calls this greenwashing. It also said the companies overstated how much they invest in renewable energy, Courthouse News Service reported.
The court disagreed. Justice David Friedman wrote that the ads "make plain that the advertised products are gasolines" and only claim lower emissions than other gasoline.
"Not even the least sophisticated consumer could be led to believe that, by using the advertised gasoline products, he or she would be able to drive a vehicle without producing a significant amount of emissions," Friedman wrote.
The judges compared the case to a failed claim that the word "diet" in Diet Coke ads would make people think the drink helps them slim down. They also found the companies' wider claims about clean energy were not tied to selling a product. So the city law did not cover them.
A city spokesperson said New York is "evaluating the decision and next steps." The companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment, Courthouse News reported.
This is not the city's first loss. A federal appeals court threw out an earlier city suit in 2021, ruling that state law was the wrong tool for a global problem like climate change.
The bigger fight is now at the U.S. Supreme Court. On Monday, the justices heard a case brought by Boulder, Colorado, against ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy over claims they misled the public about climate change. That ruling could shape dozens of similar suits filed by local governments across the country, Courthouse News reported.
What we know: The city's greenwashing case against the three oil companies stays dismissed.
What we don't: Whether New York will appeal, and how the Supreme Court will rule in the Boulder case.
Where outlets agree Courthouse News Service and Bloomberg Law both report that a five-judge New York appeals panel on Thursday rejected the city's suit against ExxonMobil, Shell and BP.
Where they differ The outlets cited here report the same key facts so far.