In the latest sign that the momentum behind the lawfare campaign is faltering, Puerto Rico dropped its climate lawsuit against American energy companies late last week. [emphasis, links added]
In a notice submitted Friday to the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, the government announced it “voluntarily dismisses this entire case.”
While it did not provide further explanation, Puerto Rico’s lawsuit – which was represented by Sher Edling – was out of step with the island’s energy reality since its filing last July: more than 97% of its electricity comes from fossil fuels.
The withdrawal comes just months after Puerto Rico’s newly elected governor, Jenniffer González-Colón, took office.
With the island facing chronic outages, González-Colón has prioritized efforts to stabilize the island’s energy grid, including moving to import more American LNG.
Puerto Rico isn’t the first climate plaintiff to have buyer’s remorse. King County, Washington, dismissed its lawsuit in 2021, and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations withdrew its suit in 2023.
Meanwhile, several other cases have faced involuntary dismissals in recent months, as courts across the country have rejected their merits.
A Litigation Campaign Losing Steam
The territory’s voluntary dismissal comes on the heels of the Trump administration’s efforts last week to put a wrench in the billionaire-backed climate litigation campaign.
On Wednesday, the Department of Justice sued four states over climate litigation and superfund legislation.
The administration argued that climate lawfare stands in the way of the federal government’s prioritization of expanding access to energy resources and lowering household costs, and that the Constitution allows the administration to pursue these goals unobstructed:
“At a time when States should be contributing to a national effort to secure reliable sources of domestic energy, [states are] choosing to stand in the way. This Nation’s Constitution and laws do not tolerate this interference.” (emphasis added)
Separately, in a letter to Governor González-Colón last month, the American Energy Institute (AEI) called on her to “direct the Secretary of Justice to withdraw Puerto Rico’s complaint”, highlighting the tremendous harm that these lawsuits bring to residents of the island:
“These cases undermine the energy policy your administration plans to pursue for Puerto Rico, as well as the Trump administration’s agenda of energy abundance. These lawsuits are part of a coordinated lawfare attack on our quality of life.” (emphasis added)
AEI also asked the governor “to file amicus briefs in the San Juan and Puerto Rican municipalities litigation in favor of dismissal with prejudice.”
San Juan’s case, for its part, recently found itself in the hot seat after a federal judge issued a scathing rebuke of the outside counsel representing the case, asserting that he plagiarized the complaint.
Bottom Line: Puerto Rico’s exit from the climate litigation stage should serve as yet another wake-up call. The push to score political points in courtrooms – often funded and driven by outside interests – isn’t delivering results.
As the number of dropped or dismissed cases continues to rise, one thing becomes clearer and clearer: the strategy of litigating climate policy into existence is failing, and it’s time to rethink the approach.
Read more at EID Climate
