Documents obtained by the Union of Concerned Scientists reveal that groups tied to fossil fuel interests are circulating draft legislation designed to shield oil and gas companies from climate accountability lawsuits. According to emails secured through a state open records request, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) contacted nine Utah lawmakers in May and June 2026 to recruit sponsors for three model bills at the organization's annual meeting. The legislation would not only prevent future lawsuits against fossil fuel corporations but also wipe out ongoing cases representing millions of people affected by climate change.

The emails were sent by figures including Frank Lasee, a former Wisconsin state senator who now leads an organization called Truth in Energy and Climate, and Randy Eminger, a longtime coal industry lobbyist known for creating front groups. ALEC's proposed immunity bill goes further than the five state bills passed this year in Utah, Tennessee, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Iowa. Among other provisions, it would bar state and local governments from suing oil companies or anyone connected to them, prohibit lawsuits based on state fraud laws, block climate superfund legislation, stop plaintiffs from collecting damages, and force those who lose adverse rulings to cover the industry's legal fees. The measure would also apply retroactively to suits filed years earlier. Two additional bills use similar tactics: one would threaten to withhold funding from cities, counties, and schools that adopt net-zero policies, while another would compel federal energy regulators and state utilities to adopt pricing schemes that benefit fossil energy companies.

The legislation targets the same kind of case currently before the U.S. Supreme Court. The report notes that climate accountability suits filed by eleven U.S. states, the District of Columbia, two Tribal governments, and dozens of municipal governments are making their way through the courts, representing one-fourth of people in the United States. An amicus brief filed in the Boulder case states that defendants "directed substantial financial support to organizations that publicly questioned or rejected the scientific consensus regarding anthropogenic climate change." ExxonMobil provided at least $37 million to dozens of climate-denial organizations between 1998 and 2019 according to the company's own grantmaking reports, including CFACT and ALEC. UCS President Gretchen Goldman testified at a congressional hearing that "the administration is delivering on promises it has made to special interests who profit from the suppression of science—and in the case of climate science, that special interest is the fossil fuel industry."

The report explains that fossil fuel companies and their political allies have deployed a range of tactics to block accountability, including counter-suits, attacks on climate science and scientists, and legislation providing blanket immunity from legal responsibility—something unprecedented for such a large industry. The American Petroleum Institute listed immunity as a top 2026 priority, and a ProPublica investigation found that immunity bills introduced in several Republican-controlled state legislatures stemmed from a network of groups connected to prominent right-wing operative Leonard Leo, including ALEC. At the federal level, Representative Harriet Hageman and Senator Ted Cruz introduced a bill this year essentially shielding the fossil fuel industry from liability in an effort to bypass the legal system. These efforts show the industry's fear of accountability, the report suggests, particularly as recent polling indicates nearly two-thirds of voters oppose protecting oil and gas companies from being held responsible for climate damages—a figure likely to grow as climate impacts worsen. The report concludes that the Supreme Court, Congress, and state legislatures must resist the fossil fuel industry's coordinated campaign to avoid accountability and allow communities harmed by climate change their day in court.