KEY TAKEAWAYS: Louisiana HB804 would prohibit lawsuits against oil and gas companies over climate-related damages. The bill advanced unanimously through the House Natural Resources and Environment Committee. Supporters argue it protects energy producers from “frivolous” climate litigation. Opponents say it shields corporations from accountability for pollution and climate impacts.   The Louisiana Legislature is considering a new law to prohibit anyone from suing oil and gas companies for any damages, injuries or deaths attributed to pollution-driven climate change. House Bill 804, sponsored by Rep. Brett Geymann, R-Lake Charles, cleared its first hurdle Thursday when it advanced with unanimous support from the House Committee on Natural Resources and Environment. The bill would effectively give energy companies legal immunity from liability related to illnesses, injuries, deaths or other damages stemming from the climate effects of industrial air pollution. Geymann, who is calling his proposal the Louisiana Energy Protection Act, said it is not meant to stop legitimate lawsuits against a particular facility’s greenhouse gas emissions. Its prohibition would not apply to damages arising from violations of regulatory air permits or the Occupational Safety and Health Act. He pointed to a lawsuit in Washington state that blames seven fossil fuel companies for the death of an individual as a result of conditions attributed to man-made climate change. The plaintiff in that case is the daughter of Juliana Leon. The 65-year-old woman died of heat stroke  June 28, 2021, while sitting in her car with her windows rolled down during an unusual weather pattern that spiked temperatures to 108 degrees. Some scientists linked the heat spike, which caused more than 650 deaths in North America, to industrial-driven climate change. The lawsuit, which is still pending in court, is the first seeking to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable for an individual’s death. The plaintiff’s attorneys allege oil and gas companies knew for decades their products would dangerously alter the planet’s atmosphere but continued to produce those products and worked to suppress public awareness of these dangers.  Cities and states have been bringing climate lawsuits against big oil and gas producers for years, claiming they engaged in deceptive marketing, fraud and even racketeering. Numerous independent investigations, including inquiries by Congress, have revealed many major oil companies and their trade groups spread disinformation about climate change and worked to hold back the clean energy industry. Scientists across the globe overwhelmingly agree fossil fuel emissions have caused significant planet warming in recent decades. While some Republicans on the Louisiana House committee questioned the legitimacy of climate science, lawmakers from both parties voiced approval for Geymann’s bill, which has the backing of influential business and fossil fuel lobby groups. Rep. Marcus Bryant, D-New Iberia, poked fun at the notion of climate change litigation by comparing it to him suing a golf course for a gust of wind pushing his ball into a pond. “I hit the ball and, out the blue, a whiff of wind puts my ball in the water,” Bryant said. “Golf courses are not in this bill. I could sue my golf course? Because this was serious.” The comment drew laughter from the packed committee room. Mike Moncla, president of the Louisiana Oil Gas Association, called Geymann’s measure “somewhat of a preemptive strike against the frivolous lawsuits making their way through liberal cities throughout our country.” Proponents of the bill argued it’s wrong to blame climate change on a handful of companies, noting that it’s impossible to prove the cause of a particular weather event. “It would make as much sense to sue the tooth fairy,” said Cameron Sholty, a lobbyist for the Heartland Institute, a conservative think tank. Sholty said climate change is a global phenomenon caused by centuries of emissions from billions of consumers and industries across the world. Climate change lawsuits are asking courts to pretend only a handful of companies can be singled out and blamed for damages, he said. “These lawsuits are not really about compensating a cleanly traceable injury,” he said. “They’re about using litigation to punish lawful energy production and to force policy change through the bench that activists could not secure at the ballot box or through the legislature.” John West, a Vernon Parish resident, was one of three people who testified against the bill, arguing corporations already get enough protections and special treatment in Louisiana. Noting that he’s been visiting the State Capitol and following the work of the legislature for the past three years, he took issue with the committee’s positions. “I’ve noticed a trend, and it’s particularly with this committee … that considering people is last and considering economics is first,” West said. “That’s what I see. I’m a person, I’m not a group. I’m one of the community members that look for you to protect us, and I don’t see that.” Geymann, who chairs the committee, told his colleagues no one asked him to sponsor the bill, but he said the topic of climate change lawsuits was mentioned in a recent work group meeting he had with oil and gas executives. His bill borrows language from similar legislation proposed at the federal level. The Stop Climate Shakedowns Act of 2026, sponsored by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyoming. Similar state laws have passed recently in Utah and Tennessee. Geymann’s bill will move next to the House floor for consideration. ...read more read less