by Aubrie Spady
Fox News
One energy expert told Fox that “energy policy should be set by elected officials, not litigated into existence by activist lawyers”
The climate change movement was issued a massive blow on Wednesday after a trial judge permanently closed a Democrat-charged lawsuit claiming that big oil was to blame for climate-caused damages in the state.
In 2022, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin filed a lawsuit against the country’s largest oil companies, ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Phillips 66, Shell, as well as the American Petroleum Institute, claiming that the fossil fuel industry was worsening the effects of climate change, and therefore, causing damage to the state.
However, the case was tossed out on Wednesday by New Jersey Superior Court Judge Douglas Hurd, who ruled that lawful oil companies could not be held liable for worldwide emissions. The case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be reopened…
Steve Milloy, senior fellow at the Energy & Environment Legal Institute and former Trump EPA transition team member, said that similar lawsuits could face the same fate because “the climate controversy is a political, not a legal one.”
“Although Democrats don’t really understand this, political issues are on the ballot box, not the courtroom,” Milloy said.
