On Monday, a federal judge dismissed a pair of ambitious lawsuits filed by the cities of San Francisco and Oakland seeking to hold some of the largest oil companies liable for damages related to global climate change. The ruling represents a setback to the nascent effort by cities and counties nationwide to recover some climate-change-related costs from the major carbon polluters. 

In his 16-page ruling, federal district court judge William Alsup noted that the science attributing rising temperatures to human actions is settled, and that even defendants such as Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Royal Dutch Shell accept the basic findings of climate change research. “The issue is not over science,” wrote Alsup, who in March held a closely watched, five-hour-long climate science tutorial in his courtroom. “All parties agree that fossil fuels have led to global warming and ocean rise and will continue to do so, and that eventually the navigable waters of the United States will intrude upon Oakland and San Francisco.” 

But the judge went on to conclude that, in his opinion, the courts are not the appropriate venue for deciding who is responsible for climate-change-related damages—largely because of the sheer scale of the problem. “The dangers raised in the complaints are very real. But those dangers are worldwide. Their causes are worldwide,” Alsup wrote. “The problem deserves a solution on a more vast scale than can be supplied by a district judge or jury in a public nuisance case. . . . The court will stay its hand in favor of solutions by the legislative and executive branches.” 

Spokespeople for the Oakland and San Francisco city attorney offices told E&E News that they are evaluating the judge’s ruling and considering whether they will appeal to a higher court.  

The Oakland and San Francisco suits are among more than a dozen climate-liability claims filed by communities nationwide in the last year. A similar suit filed by several California counties is currently wending its way through California state court. Three local governments in Colorado have sued ExxonMobil seeking to recover damages associated with increasing wildfires and drought associated with climate change. Seattle’s King County has filed a climate-related lawsuit against the carbon polluters, as has New York City, where a judge earlier this month considered a motion to dismiss from the energy company defendants.  

While the Alsup ruling has no direct bearing on those cases, judges in other venues will certainly be watching the Northern California court’s decision as they make their own decisions about whether these cases should go to trial.  

In an interview with Axios, David Bookbinder, an attorney with the Niskanen Center, a co-counsel with the Colorado plaintiffs, said the broader issue of who is liable for climate-change-related damages is far from settled. “This is round one of many, many rounds of decisions in these cases,” Bookbinder said. “By no means is it the end of the process.”