America's Talking - Chevron Verdict Could Mark Turning Point in Oil Industry Litigation

Episode Date: April 13, 2025

(The Center Square) − A Louisiana jury's decision last week to award $745 million in damages against Chevron has become the latest flashpoint in the national legal battle over climate accountability, drawing fierce reactions from industry allies, legal reform advocates, and watchdog groups warning of broader implications. The verdict, issued by the 25th Judicial District Court in Plaquemines Parish, marks the first jury trial result from a slate of more than 40 lawsuits filed by Louisiana parishes since 2013. The suits claim that oil and gas operations contributed significantly to coastal erosion and environmental degradation. But critics say the lawsuits could imperil the state's economic prospects while doing little to directly restore coastal lands.Support this podcast: https://secure.anedot.com/franklin-news-foundation/ce052532-b1e4-41c4-945c-d7ce2f52c38a?source_code=xxxxxxFull story: https://www.thecentersquare.com/national/article_07e37e27-e291-446e-a2b6-64607a475fca.html Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to America in Focus. I am Steve Wilson, Southeast Regional Editor for the Center Square. With me is Louisiana statewide reporter Nolan McKendry. And Nolan has been writing about a huge story that has nationwide implications, and that is a massive $744 million verdict in a coastal erosion lawsuit against oil and gas companies. Nolan, how big is this decision and what are the implications? Well, it's a very big decision. The final decision perhaps could come by the Supreme Court if they decide to weigh in.

The implications are potentially a great deal of a loss of business for the oil and gas industries. There are currently 40 some lawsuits awaiting the different. courts in Louisiana. And if the, if worst case scenario, if each lawsuit is won, then that can be a great deal of money loss for these industries.

And so, according to they have to respond by potentially raising their prices or doing less business. On the other hand, of course, we should be interested in holding Hoyla gas and she's accountable and this might set a precedent that could at least help achieve that.

It might require oil and gas companies to take a little bit more time to be a little bit more responsible. Well, I guess my question is, what are the legal arguments for the oil and gas companies having to pay this huge amount and other possible huge awards and these type of lawsuits. And the other thing is, what are the oil and gas companies saying that they don't bear responsibility or culpability for this? That's right.

So the damage in this particular case that was done happened years ago, I believe in, 1941. And it was done in agreement with federal government as a means for World War II. and how good the war cause. And it was also done by a company that was acquired by the company that's now being sued, which I believe Texaco, which was acquired by Chevron in 2001. And so the argument is that the law that was established after those, the damage being done cannot retroactively applied now. On the other hand, the courts are, of course, arguing that it doesn't really matter that the law was passed and Chevron doesn't derive it.

Indeed, coastal erosion did happen. Environmental damage occurred. And they attribute it to worsening climate change. Well, I know the oil and gas companies provide a lot of problems. property tax revenue in Louisiana, not to mention all of the people in Louisiana that are employed by the oil and gas industry. You've got Port Fouchon, which is, of course, nothing but oil and gas support for offshore oil drilling. You've got all the helicopter fields that support those old drilling platforms. What would be the effect if this thing goes all the way up to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court finds that the oil and gas companies have culpability in this matter? Well, they argue, I assume that the oil and gas industry would say that it would, you know, kind of put a very big target on their back.

One of the things that Louisiana is really struggling with is what you might call lawsuit abuse, which is attempting, you know, sort of frivolous lawsuits and attempting to secure very large payouts for it for them. perhaps exceeding what is actually needed. And so oil and gas industries will perhaps be almost paranoid, and it just will refuse to do business in areas where they're scared of getting sued. I guess my last question is, is this going to be one of those, could this be, in just your opinion,

could this be one of these precedent-setting decisions that when it goes up to the Supreme court, this is something that could echo through the legal landscape of the United States, not just in the Pelican state, but the whole country for many years to come? Yes, certainly. And not just for the oil and gas industry, for any sort of environmental damage caused by any company in any industry. From what I understand, there are also cases of the sort that Chevron is being, was sued for in in Pennsylvania and California.

And if the Supreme Court accepts the rules against Chevron, again, accepting the $744 million lawsuit, it can mean a lot more lawsuits and a lot more cases and against a lot more industries that hold companies responsible for damage that was done prior to laws being created. It's interesting to do. note that Governor Jeff Landry supports these lawsuits and supported them when he was Attorney General. How does he square that with his pro-business approach as a Republican

governor? Well, you know, I think he's just, there's a lot of speculation that the same people that he's supporting for these lawsuits are also fairly big donors of his. You can also just make the argument that he cares about Louisiana's coast and he's interested in seeing more money for helping restore it, which is indeed, you know, I'm not, the coast is eroding at an enormous rate. You know, I like a football field a day. The statistic that I hear, which is just, I mean, it's hard to imagine our football field of a day of land being sunk.

We would be going to war if someone was taking a football field of a day of our land. would we not? Precisely. Well, thank you, Nolan, for joining us, and thank you for giving us some great insights on coastal erosion and Louisiana's oil and gas industry in these lawsuits.