WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) today announced its strong support for the Stop Climate Shakedowns Act, federal legislation aimed at curbing abusive “climate lawfare” and safeguarding America’s energy sector against partisan assault.  The newly introduced legislation, sponsored by Representative Harriet Hageman (R–WY) in the U.S. House of Representatives, and Senators Ted Cruz (R–TX), Tom Cotton (R–AR), Ted Budd (R–NC) and Mike Lee (R–UT) in the U.S. Senate, represents a critical step toward restoring legal fairness and protecting a pillar of the American economy: affordable, reliable domestic energy production.   

“CFIF has long worked to end abuse of the American legal system as a political weapon.  This Stop Climate Shakedowns Act directly addresses that festering problem in which activist groups, plaintiff lawyers and extremist state actors work to achieve through the court system and strong-arm, punitive actions what they can’t accomplish through the democratic process,” said Timothy Lee, Senior Vice President of Legal and Public Affairs at CFIF.

To achieve that end, the Stop Climate Shakedowns Act:

• Prohibits retroactive climate liability lawsuits seeking to penalize energy producers.
• Dismisses pending lawsuits on the date of the bill’s enactment.
• Voids extremist state laws penalizing energy production.
• Reaffirms that the federal government maintains exclusive authority and jurisdiction to regulate emissions standards and other environmental standards, to avoid a spaghetti bowl of contradictory and unnavigable state laws that allow individual states to dictate national and international energy policy.  

“Lawfare against America’s energy sector isn’t about accountability or fairness – it’s about leverage,” Lee continued.  “It seeks to extract massive settlements, force policy concessions and ultimately eliminate the U.S. energy industry through litigation rather than legislation.  Such cases, typically filed in plaintiff-friendly jurisdictions, seek to impose sweeping liability for worldwide phenomena extending far beyond the control of any individual American company or industry.  What results isn’t justice, but rather a coordinated campaign of economic coercion that threatens jobs, investment and energy affordability for American families,” said Lee. 

“America’s energy sector remains a cornerstone of economic growth, national security and global leadership, especially amid Middle East instability.  Energy security is inseparable from prosperity, and when activists drive up costs or restrict supply via litigation and other agenda-driven actions, hardworking Americans ultimately pay the price – at the gas pump, in their utility bills and across the productive economy.  Accordingly, CFIF enthusiastically supports the Stop Climate Shakedowns Act and urges Congress to swiftly pass it,” Lee concluded. 

CFIF is a constitutional and free-market advocacy organization with over 300,000 supporters and activists nationwide.  

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