Congress moves to block climate lawsuits against fossil fuel companies
H.R. 8330 — Stop Climate Shakedowns Act of 2026 · Filed by Harriet Hageman (R-WY) · 24 cosponsors · Introduced Apr 16, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill would prohibit states and individuals from suing fossil fuel companies for climate-related damages, arguing that climate regulation belongs exclusively to the federal government. It would immediately dismiss all pending climate lawsuits against energy companies and void state climate liability laws, preventing citizens from seeking compensation for harms allegedly caused by greenhouse gas emissions.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core function is to eliminate private litigation against energy companies for climate damages by invoking federal preemption. Despite framing itself as a federalism and commerce-regulation measure, its primary effect is to immunize a specific industry from civil liability.
What the text implies
- Eliminates state tort law remedies for climate-related harms without establishing federal compensation mechanisms, creating a liability vacuum that benefits defendants.
- Preempts state consumer protection and fraud claims related to energy company marketing or misrepresentation about climate impacts, narrowing consumer recourse.
- Dismisses all pending climate litigation immediately upon enactment, retroactively shielding defendants from lawsuits already in progress.
- Voids existing state climate superfund and climate penalty laws, eliminating revenue streams some states use to fund climate adaptation and resilience.
- Establishes federal exclusivity over greenhouse gas regulation without requiring federal agencies to create private rights of action or compensation schemes.
Who it affects
Ordinary citizens lose a legal avenue to hold energy companies accountable for climate harms and to recover damages. The bill eliminates state-level tort remedies and climate liability laws without establishing federal alternatives, leaving citizens without recourse while protecting fossil fuel companies from litigation risk.
Who stands to gain
- fossil fuel extraction and production companies
- oil and gas refiners and distributors
- coal mining companies
- energy trade associations
- fossil fuel-dependent utilities
Named in the bill
fossil fuel industry, energy companies, state governments, federal agencies, federal courts, state courts, trade associations, Commerce Clause, EPA, greenhouse gas emissions
Where it stands
24 cosponsors: 24 Republicans.
- Apr 16, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Apr 16, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
7 lobbying clients named this bill on 7 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $5,934,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 10 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 86% of bills with at least one filing.
Harriet Hageman, the sponsor, reported $669,573 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- American Petroleum Institute — $2,780,000 on 1 filing
- Koch Government Affairs, LLC — $2,760,000 on 1 filing
- Pbf Holding Company LLC — $200,000 on 1 filing
- Sierra Club — $100,000 on 1 filing
- Earthjustice — $54,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 23, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the full bill text on Jul 9, 2026; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 23, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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