WASHINGTON (September 15, 2026)—Legislation sponsored by U.S. Senator Ted Cruz and U.S. Representative Harriet Hageman to grant Big Oil sweeping immunity from climate laws and lawsuits will go through House Judiciary Committee markup on Wednesday, September 16.
Obtaining a liability shield is a top 2026 priority for Big Oil’s chief lobbying arm, the American Petroleum Institute. A ProPublica investigation revealed this bill and others introduced in a handful of Republican-controlled state houses across the country have stemmed from a network of groups connected to prominent right-wing operative Leonard Leo, including the American Legislative Exchange Council, which endorsed a model immunity bill this summer. Recent polling shows shows nearly two-thirds of voters oppose shielding oil and gas companies from being held accountable for climate damages.
Below is a statement by Kathy Mulvey, climate accountability campaign director with the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).
“At the end of the hottest summer on record in the United States, with tens of millions of people suffering from devastating climate impacts like extreme heatwaves, drought, wildfires and floods, it’s galling to see congressional leadership and the Trump administration bending to the fossil fuel industry’s will yet again. By giving serious consideration to this sweeping immunity bill, leaders of the House Judiciary Committee appear to be desperately pandering to Big Oil.
“This indefensible, dangerous bill seeks to put an industry that has been lying to the public for decades above the law. And the cherry on top of this sweet giveaway to polluters: the bill attempts to codify climate science denial by misrepresenting the field of attribution science. Attribution science, which shows us precisely how much climate change is shaping and changing our world, has become a focal point for disinformation. In fact, it’s an established scientific discipline backed by decades of research and based on rigorous peer-reviewed methods.
“Voters across the country oppose a get-out-of-jail-free card for the fossil fuel industry. People are resisting such corporate impunity because they understand it would only serve wealthy special interests at the expense of everyone who is already paying more with their health and wallets to stay safe amid fossil fuel-driven climate change. No member of Congress who cares about their constituents should be neutral on this bill—we urge every member of the Judiciary Committee to show up for Wednesday’s markup, forcefully denounce Big Oil’s efforts to escape liability for the climate harms it knowingly caused, preserve people’s and communities’ access to justice, and advance measures to hold polluters accountable.”
The House Judiciary Committee will consider this bill less than three weeks before the U.S. Supreme Court hears Big Oil’s arguments to escape trial in Boulder v. Suncor, one of dozens of climate deception lawsuits the companies face. UCS filed an amicus brief in this case detailing a historical account of ExxonMobil’s and Suncor Energy’s concealment and denial of the hazards they knew would result from the normal use of their fossil fuel products.
Additional UCS Resources:
- Op-ed on the dangers of legal immunity for the fossil fuel industry
- Blog post on how Big Oil’s immunity push replicates the gun industry’s playbook
- Report detailing a decades-long climate disinformation campaign by the fossil fuel industry
- Op-ed on escalating attacks on climate science in courtrooms
- Statement on fossil fuel immunity bills in Oklahoma and Utah
- Blog post on how climate superfund bills use science to make polluters pay
- Attribution science explainer