Resource: State of Hawai'i v. BP P.L.C. State Court Docket

On May 1, 2025, Hawai'i filed a climate change lawsuit in the Circuit Court for the First Circuit of Hawai'i, naming seven fossil fuel companies as Defendants. Hawai'i brought state claims of negligence, public nuisance, private nuisance, trespass, harm to public trust resources, civil aiding and abetting, unfair or deceptive acts or practices, and strict liability for failure to warn. In response to this filing in Hawai'i State Court, the United States filed a lawsuit against Hawai'i, its Governor, and its Attorney General in the United States District Court for the District of Hawai'i. DOJ argued that such a lawsuit in state court was pre-empted by the Clean Air Act and the federal government's control over foreign affairs, that it would amount to unconstitutional extraterritorial regulation, and that it would violate the Interstate Commerce and Foreign Commerce Clauses. On June 17, in the First Circuit of Hawai'i, Defendants filed a motion to stay proceedings pending resolution of their action against Hawai'i in the District Court. On August 18, 2025, the court granted in part Defendants’ motion to stay proceedings. The matter was vacated by the Circuit Court for the First Circuit of Hawai’i, to be re-set once the stay is lifted. This matter will continue in the United States District Court for the District of Hawai’i.