ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Can local Maryland governments sue oil and gas companies over damages caused by global greenhouse gas emissions?
On Tuesday the State's Supreme Court answered, no.
The ruling dates back to a lawsuit Baltimore City filed back in July 2018.
Baltimore tried holding 26 multinational companies like ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Shell financially responsible for the effects of global warming and/or climate change.
The City of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County each followed suit in 2021.
Last October Maryland's highest court agreed to consolidate and hear all three cases.
Five of seven justices fully voted in favor of tossing the cases, while two issued partial dissents.
Overall, the ruling majority determined the local governments were "seeking to regulate air emissions beyond their jurisdictional boundaries."
The justices cited United States Supreme Court precedent that regulation of interstate pollution fall under federal, not State or local law.
"For over a century, the United States Supreme Court has held that cases involving regulation of interstate pollution arise under federal law," the majority wrote in their 165 page ruling.
Even if local laws weren't preempted by federal regulations, the court said the lawsuits were still lacking.
"They fail to state claims under Maryland law for public and private nuisance, strict liability and negligent failure to warn, and trespass," added the majority.
The full ruling can be read here.
