H.R. 8330 & S. 4340
On April 16, 2026, Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-WY) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced identical bills in their chambers to immunize fossil-fuel companies from climate damage lawsuits. The Senate bill is branded the Stop Climate Shakedowns Act.
We suggest these actions
- Sign this petition from Green Peace, Third Act Faith, 350.org and many other climate groups:
- Email your representatives. The button takes you to an action from Third Act Bay Area:
- Call your representatives. The button takes you to 5Calls.org:
- Share the links above on Social Media and tell your friends.
Background
Petition Rationale
As climate disasters like floods, fires, and hurricanes intensify, Big Oil companies are lobbying Congress for blanket immunity from any laws or lawsuits that could hold them accountable for fueling the crisis.
Big Oil companies knew decades ago that their fossil fuel products could cause “catastrophic” consequences, but they lied to the public to protect their profits. Now more than 1 in 4 people in the United States live in a state or community that is taking major fossil fuel companies to court to hold them accountable for this deception and a growing number of states are passing or considering Climate Superfund laws that would make polluters pay for the growing costs of climate damages.
Big Oil is turning to its allies in the Trump administration and Congress to try and secure an industry-wide “liability waiver” that could help them escape accountability and take away our right to make corporations pay when they cause harm. We must stop them.
The American Petroleum Institute — the largest oil and gas trade lobbying group in the U.S. — announced that stopping climate lawsuits and climate superfund laws is one of their top legislative priorities in 2026. Republican attorneys general are pitching a game plan for how the Trump administration could help create a “liability shield” for fossil fuel companies — modeled on the shameful 2005 law protecting gun manufacturers from lawsuits. And state-level immunity bills for the fossil fuel industry have already been introduced in Utah and Oklahoma as part of the larger coordinated effort to strip communities of their right to take Big Oil to court.
From Third Act Bay Area
Big Oil has known for decades that their business model would result in more floods, more fires, and more communities torn apart as a result of climate disasters. To protect their profits, they lied to the public and prevented us from implementing solutions to the crisis they created.
Senator Ted Cruz and Representative Hageman have introduced a bill that would give Big Oil a get-out-of-jail-free card. The “Big Oil Immunity” bill would preempt initiatives rat the state level and local level to make polluters pay for climate damages.
Across the country, communities are demanding that polluters pay for the damage they’re causing. More than 1 in 4 people in the US live in a state or community taking Big Oil to court to hold them accountable. At the same time, a growing number of states are passing or considering Climate Superfund laws to make polluters pay for climate damages.
Big Oil is scared. They’re turning to its allies in DC to secure a get-out-of-jail-free card that would allow them to escape accountability. To stop them, we need to show a tidal wave of opposition to Big Oil Immunity.
From 5Calls.org
After months of fossil fuel industry lobbying, Republican lawmakers have introduced federal legislation to grant oil and gas companies immunity from any laws or lawsuits that could hold them accountable for their role in the climate crisis.
More than one in four Americans live in a community fighting in court to make Big Oil companies pay for lying about how their products fuel climate change. At at least a dozen states have passed or proposed climate “superfund” laws to make polluters, not taxpayers, cover the growing bill for climate damages. The fossil fuel industry’s allies in Congress are trying to block these accountability measures by introducing a total liability shield for fossil fuel companies based on the 2005 law protecting gun manufacturers from lawsuits.
No industry should be above the law, especially not Big Oil. Tell your Members of Congress to oppose S. 4340/H.R. 8330, the Stop Climate Shakedowns Act, and condemn the fossil fuel industry’s effort to strip communities of their right to take corporations to court.