Big Oil is lobbying Congress for total legal immunity from any laws or lawsuits that could hold them accountable for their role in the climate crisis. If successful, a legal shield for polluters would force the rising costs of climate change onto taxpayers and place corporate interests over communities’ rights.

If Congress gives the oil and gas industry a get-out-of-jail-free card, it would undercut efforts to hold polluters accountable. Multnomah County is suing ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, and other Big Oil companies for lying about the climate harms of their products for decades and knowingly fueling extreme weather such as the 2021 heat dome. Oregon lawmakers have also introduced the Climate Resilience Superfund — landmark legislation would finally make fossil fuel polluters pay their fair share for the climate damage Oregonians are already facing.

Immunity for Big Oil would stop these critical accountability efforts in their tracks.