Maryland's Court of Appeals nixes municipal climate tort claims
Municipal legal teams cannot pursue state-law climate tort claims against oil companies
Change
Maryland's Court of Appeals has barred Baltimore, Annapolis and Anne Arundel County from pursuing state-law climate tort claims against fossil fuel companies, holding those claims exceed state authority and are preempted by federal law.
Why it matters
The court applied federal preemption to state-law suits that seek damages tied to interstate or global greenhouse gas emissions, making such claims subject to dismissal. The majority signalled that allegations styled as deception will be treated as emission‑based where the alleged injuries derive from global emissions, placing those theories outside Maryland courts' remedial authority.
Implications
- — Municipal legal teams and plaintiff law firms in Maryland must withdraw or dismiss existing state-law climate tort claims and must not file new ones that hinge on global greenhouse gas emissions — such filings will be dismissed as federally preempted.
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Source
View on Climate in the Courts