Skip to content
Goldberg Segalla logo

Environmental Law Monitor

Your Guide to Emerging Issues in Environmental Regulation and Litigation.

Maryland State Flag Waving In the Breeze
• Climate Change, Environmental Law Monitor, Maryland

Maryland Supreme Court Rejects State Climate Tort Suits: Will SCOTUS Provide Guidance?

Posted by

The Supreme Court of Maryland recently affirmed the dismissal of three climate change lawsuits brought by state municipalities against various energy companies, finding that the claims were displaced and preempted by federal law.

According to the court, “state law can’t be used to impose liability for global greenhouse gas pollution” and that, “at bottom, the governments’ claims attempt to regulate air emissions beyond their jurisdictional boundaries, and the U.S. Supreme Court has long held that cases involving interstate pollution are a matter of federal law.” The decision, Mayor & City Council of Baltimore v. B.P. P.L.C, et al can be found here: 11a25.pdf

Notably, the Maryland decision comes as the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to determine the fate of climate torts brought by state and local governments in its review of a Colorado climate tort claim (covered by Goldberg Segalla’s ELM here. Unlike other states of late, the Maryland Supreme Court declined to stay its ruling pending the U.S. Supreme Court’s review of the Colorado case, with the Maryland Court noting that a contrary ruling from another high court could “prove useful.” As also covered previously by the ELM, in deciding to review the Colorado case, the U.S. Supreme Court instructed the parties to brief whether the court even has authority to hear the case. The Maryland Supreme Court observed that, given the Supreme Court’s jurisdictional question, a decision on the merits may not be reached, which necessitated a decision by the Maryland Supreme Court.

Though many states, such as Colorado and Hawaii, have shown a willingness to hear climate torts on the state level, Maryland joins states such as New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and South Carolina in finding that federal common law displaces such state law climate tort claims. Ultimately, the recent Maryland decision demonstrates an example of judicial reluctance to use state tort law to address problems extending to a global scale and highlights further divide among the states on this issue.

Goldberg Segalla’s Environmental Law Monitor will continue to track the SCOTUS Colorado appeal, along with further developments in state climate tort lawsuits.