• Here’s what happened: Congressman Mike Flanagan (R, Illinois) is out with a new opinion piece criticizing the city of Chicago’s “frivolous” climate nuisance lawsuit against energy companies.
• A troubling trend: Chicago is one of dozens of local governments that have filed climate nuisance suits in an attempt to pad their budgets and achieve at the courthouse things that activists haven’t been able to achieve in the Legislature.
• Go further: The broad misperception that public nuisance litigation brought down Big Tobacco has spurred the growth of boutique law firms that use public nuisance claims outside their intended function. Learn more in the TLR Advocate
• In his words: “For starters, oil and gas essential for powering our modern society. Using it to fuel our everyday lives does not constitute a public nuisance since Chicago and every community engaged on lawsuits have historically been heavily dependent on these energy products.”–Congressman Flanagan
  
• Remind me: The courts have repeatedly rejected public nuisance claims against products, emphasizing that the policy decisions in question are reserved for the appropriate legislative or regulatory bodies.
  
• TLR Thoughts: Thousands of Texas jobs are at stake in these climate nuisance lawsuits, but no industry or lawful product is safe from suddenly being deemed a “nuisance.” The Texas Legislature should establish guardrails to clarify cases that the public nuisance doctrine should not apply to—namely those targeting legal or permitted activities. 

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