06/30/2025
BREAKING NEWS: Supreme Court Rejects Final Exxon Appeal in Historic Clean Air Act Citizen Enforcement Case
The U.S. Supreme Court has denied ExxonMobil Corporation’s certiorari petition asking the justices to take up an appeal of the company’s record-setting loss in a Clean Air Act enforcement suit.
The environmental groups’ suit, filed in 2010, cited repeated violations at the company’s Baytown, Texas, oil refinery and chemical plant complex. It resulted in a $14.25 million civil penalty against Exxon — the largest penalty ever imposed by a court in a citizen-initiated public interest lawsuit to enforce the Clean Air Act. It’s a major victory for plaintiffs Environment Texas and Sierra Club and their members who have long endured illegal air pollution released from the complex.
“When the government fails to stop illegal pollution, our environmental laws give impacted communities the right to enforce the law against companies that don’t follow the rules,” said Jen Duggan, Executive Director of the Environmental Integrity Project. “Instead of accepting responsibility for breaking the law, ExxonMobil tried to block access to the courthouse and persuade the courts to overturn longstanding legal precedent. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to reject ExxonMobil’s appeal reaffirms the rights of individuals across America to protect themselves from unchecked pollution that threatens their health and wellbeing.”
Learn more: https://environmentamerica.org/texas/media-center/supreme-court-rejects-final-exxon-appeal-in-historic-clean-air-act-citizen-enforcement-case/
Environment Texas, Sierra Club, Texas Sierra Club, Environment America, NRDC, Environmental Defense Fund, Earthjustice, Beyond Petrochemicals, SELC, 350.org, Center for International Environmental Law, Guardian US, AP Politics, Washington Post, The New York Times, Inside Climate News, Grist.org
