"Environmental groups say judges across the country believe cases like Baltimore's should hold oil companies accountable in state courts for environmental harm."
"In a first of its kind decision, a Maryland judge on Wednesday tossed Baltimore City’s climate suit against major oil giants on the grounds that it is not the role of the state courts to address a global issue like climate change.
Originally filed in 2018, the lawsuit is one of more than a dozen similar cases against powerful oil companies including Chevron, Exxon and BP that are winding through courts across the nation.
Jurisdictions all over the U.S. are experiencing the impacts of climate change and are using legal means to extract compensation from oil giants that, they argue, profited from selling products they knew caused environmental harm and brought about calamities such as global warming and extreme weather.
Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Videtta A. Brown sided with the oil companies, explaining that the gas emissions that damaged Baltimore fall under the federal Clean Air Act. "
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