The U.S. Supreme Court on June 16 agreed to hear energy companies’ bid to move into federal court several lawsuits filed by local Louisiana governments accusing them of harming the state’s coastline.
The court granted the petition in Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Plaquemines Parish without comment in an unsigned order. No justices dissented.
Starting in 2013, six parishes along the Gulf of America coast in Louisiana initiated 42 lawsuits accusing oil and gas companies of running afoul of a state permitting law, the State and Local Coastal Resources Management Act (SLCRMA) of 1978. The first case went to trial, and in April, a jury ordered Chevron to pay $744.6 million to Plaquemines Parish….