ELR Citation: 50 ELR 20051
No(s). 19-1644 (4th Cir. Mar 6, 2020)

The Fourth Circuit upheld a district court order that remanded to state court the city of Baltimore's climate change case against oil companies. The city alleged it sustained climate change-related injuries, including an increase in sea levels, storms, floods, heatwaves, droughts, and extreme precipitation, from greenhouse gas pollution to which the companies had substantially contributed. The companies argued the city's claims were properly removed to federal court because they raised substantial and disputed federal issues relating to foreign affairs and navigable waters. The district court found the companies' generalized references to foreign policy, as well as their assertion that an element of the city's theory of causation might include construction of infrastructure on navigable waters and thus require approval by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, failed to demonstrate that a federal question was essential to resolving the claims, and it remanded the case back to state court. On appeal, the appellate court determined that it only had jurisdiction to review the district court's conclusion that removal was improper under the federal officer removal statute, and found that contracts and leases between the companies and the U.S. government were insufficient to justify removing the case to federal court. It therefore upheld the district court's order granting Baltimore's motion to remand.