ELR Citation: 52 ELR 20059
No(s). 19-1818 (1st Cir. May 23, 2022)

The First Circuit again affirmed a district court order that remanded to state court Rhode Island's climate change lawsuit against oil companies. The district court concluded that none of the companies' grounds for removal—federal officer, federal question, Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, admiralty, and bankruptcy—were warranted, and remanded back to state court. The appellate court had affirmed the district court's determination that there was no jurisdiction under the federal officer removal statute, and dismissed the rest of the companies' appeal for lack of jurisdiction. The U.S. Supreme Court vacated the appellate court's judgment, and remanded in light of its ruling in BP P.L.C. v. Mayor & City Council of Baltimore, which held that a federal appeals court is permitted to review a federal judge's entire remand order. The appellate court then considered all of the companies' bases for removal, but rejected all of them and affirmed the district court's remand order.