ELR Citation: 54 ELR 20030
No(s). 22-2082 and 22-2101 (4th Cir. Feb 26, 2024)

The Fourth Circuit affirmed a district court order remanding to state court two climate deception lawsuits against oil and gas companies. City and county governments in Maryland initially sued in state court, alleging the companies used and promoted fossil fuel products while knowing, concealing, and obscuring the connection between those products and climate change, in violation of Maryland's Consumer Protection Act and state tort law. The companies removed the suits to federal court, invoking jurisdiction under the federal officer removal statute and the federal question statute. The district court rejected both grounds for federal jurisdiction and remanded to state court. The appellate court found the activities cited by the companies did not support federal officer removal because they involved fossil fuel production rather than concealment or misrepresentation of information about products, and that the First Amendment issues raised by the companies were not "necessary elements" of the cities' state-law claims. It concluded there was no valid basis for removal, and affirmed the district court's remand orders.