{"id":372450,"date":"2025-03-28T09:08:07","date_gmt":"2025-03-28T08:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=372450"},"modified":"2025-03-28T09:08:09","modified_gmt":"2025-03-28T08:08:09","slug":"another-courtroom-clown-show-bucks-countys-green-lawsuit-debacle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=372450","title":{"rendered":"Another Courtroom Clown Show: Bucks County\u2019s Green Lawsuit Debacle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Charles Rotter<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Delaware Valley Journal Reports:<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Judge Calls Out \u2018Sneaky\u2019 Bucks Commissioners Over Lawsuit Targeting Oil Companies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Did Bucks County Democrats try to sneak their nuisance lawsuit targeting major oil companies past county voters?

That\u2019s the allegation made, not by the lawyers, but by Bucks County Judge Stephen A. Corr during a hearing on the case Monday.

https:\/\/delawarevalleyjournal.com\/category\/energy\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

If you thought climate litigation couldn\u2019t get more farcical, let Bucks County prove you wrong. In what can only be described as a political theater piece disguised as legal action, the Democrat-controlled Bucks County Board of Commissioners has embarrassed itself with a lawsuit that is equal parts stealth, spectacle, and strategic cluelessness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The spectacle began in March 2024, with Democrat commissioners Diane Ellis-Marseglia and Bob Harvie flanking token Republican Gene DiGirolamo (who quickly backed away like someone who smelled the nonsense a mile away). They announced a lawsuit against BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Shell, and the American Petroleum Institute, accusing them of violating local \u201cnuisance laws\u201d and get this\u2014failing to adequately warn Bucks County residents about the supposed dangers of climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, because nothing screams \u201clegal clarity\u201d like trying to treat a gallon of unleaded like secondhand smoke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cherry on top? These climate crusaders tried to sneak the whole thing past the public by embedding their lawsuit authorization under the vague term \u201cenvironmental litigation\u201d in a January 2024 consent agenda. This procedural magic trick was so flagrant that even Judge Stephen Corr, hardly a flamethrower by nature, called it out. Corr didn\u2019t mince words: \u201cYou\u2019ve got to be kidding me,\u201d he snapped at the county solicitor. He then summarized the commissioners\u2019 move for what it was\u2014\u201ca sneaky way of doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But wait\u2014it gets better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lawyer for Chevron, Frederick Santarelli, called the maneuver \u201cundemocratic\u201d and lambasted the commissioners for violating Pennsylvania\u2019s Sunshine Act. Corr, who actually used to sit on a school board and knows how transparency is supposed to work, seemed genuinely appalled. \u201cHow can the public ask an intelligent question?\u201d he asked. A fair point\u2014assuming intelligent questions haven\u2019t already been outlawed by the climate litigation crowd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what exactly is this lawsuit aiming to do? Oh, just fund public works projects like stormwater management and bridge repairs by extracting cash from oil companies. That\u2019s right\u2014Bucks County thinks it can pave its roads with climate hysteria and Chevron\u2019s legal settlements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ted Boutrous, an attorney for Chevron, didn\u2019t hold back either: \u201cVirtually identical lawsuits have been dismissed by multiple federal and state courts across the country, including in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and California.\u201d The precedent is clear: this kind of political performance art doesn\u2019t belong in a county courtroom. As Boutrous rightly pointed out, \u201cThe claims are based on interstate and international emissions and, therefore, are precluded and preempted by federal law under clear U.S. Supreme Court precedent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translation: This isn\u2019t just bad policy. It\u2019s legally incoherent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naturally, Bucks County\u2019s legal team is spinning harder than a turbine in a wind farm. County lawyer Dan Flynn alleged oil companies ran a \u201cdisinformation campaign,\u201d because apparently no one in 2024 understands that cars run on gas unless Big Oil spells it out in skywriting. Judge Corr wasn\u2019t buying it. \u201cWhat about me? I drive a car that burns gas,\u201d he pointed out. Flynn responded with an artful dodge: \u201cThe court was not telling everybody to go burn gas. The defendants were.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This, in a courtroom, is what passes for a compelling legal argument in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for the real world\u2014where grown-ups reside\u2014Judge Corr reminded everyone that \u201cwe\u2019re talking about emissions from all over the world.\u201d A point so obvious it hurts to hear it repeated, and yet apparently not obvious enough for the commissioners who think Shell owes them new rain gutters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The entire fiasco reeks of political opportunism cloaked in legal jargon. Bucks County isn\u2019t trying to stop climate change\u2014they\u2019re chasing a payout. And they\u2019re doing it with all the ethical grace of a Vegas conman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s recap: A climate activist nonprofit (Center for Climate Integrity) coordinated with Bucks officials via email prior to the lawsuit. The suit itself hides behind \u201cenvironmental litigation\u201d on a consent agenda. The commissioners talk about \u201ctransparency\u201d while clearly avoiding it. And their legal strategy has already been tried\u2014and laughed out of court\u2014across half a dozen states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bucks County\u2019s crusade is a microcosm of the broader climate litigation absurdity: legally bankrupt, ethically dubious, and politically motivated. This is not governance. This is green theater\u2014badly acted and poorly reviewed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s hope Judge Corr\u2019s written ruling delivers the final curtain call this performance deserves. Preferably with a laugh track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Did Bucks County Democrats try to sneak their nuisance lawsuit targeting major oil companies past county voters?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the allegation made, not by the lawyers, but by Bucks County Judge Stephen A. Corr during a hearing on the case Monday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":372453,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691834113,691834115,691834112,691834117,691818056,691829604,691819400,691834114,691834116],"class_list":["post-372450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-board-of-commissioners","tag-bob-harvie","tag-bucks-county","tag-center-for-climate-integrity","tag-climate-change","tag-climate-lawsuits","tag-democrats","tag-diane-ellis-marseglia","tag-pennsylvanias-sunshine-act-corr","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1yTg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":379121,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=379121","url_meta":{"origin":372450,"position":0},"title":"\u2018Not Judiciable By Any Court\u2019: Pennsylvania Court Tosses County\u2019s Climate Lawsuit","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/21\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A judge dismissed a Pennsylvania county lawsuit alleging climate change-related harm against major oil and gas companies late on Friday.","rel":"","context":"In \"Bucks County\"","block_context":{"text":"Bucks County","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=bucks-county"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0ChatGPT-Image-21.-Mai-2025-09_40_51.png?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0ChatGPT-Image-21.-Mai-2025-09_40_51.png?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0ChatGPT-Image-21.-Mai-2025-09_40_51.png?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0ChatGPT-Image-21.-Mai-2025-09_40_51.png?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":317642,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=317642","url_meta":{"origin":372450,"position":1},"title":"Another Cut and Paste Lawsuit: Pennsylvania Bucks County v. BP PLC, et al.","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"04\/14\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"There\u2019s only one reason why I don\u2019t label\u00a0this newest one filed on March 25, 2024\u00a0as a \u201cSher Edling boilerplate copy lawsuit\u201d \u2013 it doesn\u2019t have Sher Edling\u2019s official \u2018signature\u2019 on it.","rel":"","context":"In \"Big Oil\"","block_context":{"text":"Big Oil","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=big-oil"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/0941728.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/0941728.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/0941728.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/0941728.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/0941728.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":441504,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=441504","url_meta":{"origin":372450,"position":2},"title":"Climate shakedown lawsuits threaten U.S. energy dominance","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"04\/26\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Propelled by the shale revolution in which human ingenuity (fracking) has made beneficial use of favorable geology, the United States is now the world\u2019s leading producer of crude oil and natural gas. 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