Wave of 43 lawsuits devised by prominent plaintiffs’ lawyers seek to impose ruinous, retroactive liability for oil and gas producers based on decades of activities that were expressly permitted by all relevant federal, state and local authorities
WASHINGTON D.C. – Today, William P. Barr, a former two-time United States Attorney General, issued a letter to Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill raising concerns about recent events in her state that run counter to the Trump Administration’s energy dominance agenda.
The letter is available here.
At issue are a wave of 43 lawsuits from prominent plaintiffs’ lawyers targeting American oil and gas companies. The suits, which seek tens of billions of dollars of damage, claim that oil and gas production activities over the past 80 years are responsible for Louisiana’s coastal land loss and erosion. The first of these cases reached a jury verdict last week that awarded a $745 million judgment against Chevron.
Barr writes, “These lawsuits seek to impose ruinous, retroactive liability for oil and gas producers based on decades of activities that were expressly permitted by all relevant federal, state and local authorities and that generated the energy, employment and revenue that once made Louisiana a leading contributor to American prosperity. We are concerned these suits, if they continue, will impact critical current LNG plants and operations in the coastal zone, curtail new energy investments in Louisiana, constrain funding available for new production in the Gulf of America, and undermine President Trump’s efforts to re-establish American energy dominance.”
Barr specifically calls for consideration of three issues:
- The energy companies’ defense that none of their production activities violated Louisiana’s State and Local Coastal Resources Management Act of 1978 (SLCRMA), which took effect in 1980, and does not allow for recovery of damages caused by activities conducted prior to 1980.
- Pre-1980 coastal erosion. Plaintiffs have never provided a coherent explanation why defendants’ pre-1980 operations did not qualify as “legally commenced,” but even if plaintiffs were right (and they are not) it would only mean that defendants were required to get permits in 1980. The only violations would be the unpermitted uses made after 1980, and defendants’ only liability would be for any harm caused by that unpermitted use after 1980.
- Whether the federal government is responsible for at least the vast majority of the land loss for which the private trial lawyers now seek to hold energy companies liable, and how federal responsibility should be presented in any trial or other proceeding seeking to attribute liability to other defendants.
Barr wrote the letter on behalf of the American Free Enterprise Chamber of Commerce, the American Energy Institute, the United States Energy Association, and First Principles.
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