Leonard Leo Network Orchestrates State Laws to Shield Oil & Gas from Climate Liability

A coordinated legislative campaign is systematically dismantling the public's ability to hold oil and gas companies accountable for climate damages. Across 11 Republican-led states, 15 laws have been passed or are advancing to shield the fossil fuel industry from lawsuits alleging responsibility for climate destruction. This effort threatens to remove long-standing legal tools just as courts are weighing more than 30 significant climate liability lawsuits from states, counties, and municipalities.

The campaign is not a series of isolated state actions but a centrally orchestrated project. A ProPublica investigation reveals that most of these bills are the work of a constellation of groups sharing staff and funding ties to prominent conservative activist Leonard Leo. Leo, credited with shaping the current conservative U.S. Supreme Court majority, is the common thread. These groups have drafted the model legislation, planned its dissemination, and engaged a well-connected lobbying firm to push the bills into law.

This legislative push creates a formidable barrier for plaintiffs in ongoing and future climate litigation. If successful, it could insulate a major industry from financial accountability for its role in a global crisis, shifting the enormous costs of adaptation and disaster recovery onto taxpayers and local governments. The strategy represents a preemptive strike in what some legal observers describe as an 'economic civil war,' aiming to lock in corporate protections before courts can rule on the merits of the climate claims.