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Latest from the Litigation Impact Tracker: 8 new traces, 5 November 2026
7 November 2026
What followed climate rulings, as reported in the sources: 8 new traces added to the tracker, from City & County of Honolulu v. Sunoco LP, R, Pabai Pabai and Guy Paul Kabai v. Commonwealth… and more.
Latest from the Litigation Impact Tracker. The tracker follows what happens after a climate ruling: laws and policies that change, courts that rely on it, companies, governments and campaigns that respond. This batch adds 8 new traces across 7 cases.
Oregon court lets the $51 billion heat dome suit go ahead, treating it as a deception case not pre-empted by the Clean Air Act
On 2 November 2026 a Multnomah County judge rejected all but one of more than 20 motions by oil companies and trade groups to dismiss the county's suit over the deadly 2021 heat dome. Judge Adele Ridenour held that the claims centre on deception and failure to warn, not on regulating emissions, so the federal Clean Air Act does not pre-empt them. That is the reasoning the Hawaii Supreme Court adopted in Honolulu v. Sunoco in 2023, the leading state ruling keeping these cases alive.
Case: City & County of Honolulu v. Sunoco LP · 2 November 2026 · Open the trace
An Australian court quotes Finch: emissions count wherever the coal is burned
On 30 October 2026 the Land Court of Queensland, in the Winchester South coal mine case, quoted the UK Supreme Court's Finch judgment: people who carry on an activity that will cause significant emissions 'cannot be heard to say' those emissions are not their effects because they occur far away. The court accepted that foreign cases have no precedential value there, but took Finch's point as a matter of general principle and treated the mine's scope 3 emissions as a relevant consideration.
Case: R (Finch on behalf of the Weald Action Group & Others) v. Surrey County Council (& Others) · 30 October 2026 · Open the trace
Queensland Land Court weighs Pabai's finding on unmeasurable emissions in approving a coal mine
On 30 October 2026 the Land Court of Queensland, recommending approval of the Winchester South coal mine, discussed the Federal Court's 2025 Pabai judgment. Objectors relied on its statement that every tonne of greenhouse gas adds to warming; the mine relied on its finding that very small temperature effects cannot be measured or linked to actual harm. The Land Court noted the 'parallels' between the cases but declined to apply Pabai's factual findings directly, and listed the case as distinguished.
Case: Pabai Pabai and Guy Paul Kabai v. Commonwealth of Australia · 30 October 2026 · Open the trace
Queensland Land Court rules the ICJ climate opinion is not binding and 'does not meaningfully tell against' a new coal mine
Case: Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change (ICJ Advisory Opinion) · 30 October 2026 · Open the trace
Queensland Land Court applies the Waratah framework to the Winchester South coal mine, but recommends approval
On 30 October 2026 the Land Court of Queensland recommended that the Winchester South coal mine be approved, in Whitehaven WS v Australian Conservation Foundation (No 4) [2026] QLC 24. The court worked inside the method set by Waratah Coal v Youth Verdict: it treated scope 3 (combustion) emissions as relevant, weighed climate harm under the Human Rights Act, and repeated that President Kingham's findings on climate impacts 'have not been the subject of any successful challenge'. But it reached the opposite result, finding the mine's contribution very small and its limits on human rights proportionate.
Case: Youth Verdict v. Waratah Coal · 30 October 2026 · Open the trace
Los Angeles re-enacts its oil drilling ban after the courts struck down the first one
Los Angeles adopted an ordinance banning new oil and gas drilling and phasing out about 600 active wells over 20 years; the City Council voted unanimously on 28 October 2026 and Mayor Karen Bass signed it the next day. The city's first ban, passed in 2022, was struck down in 2024 after oil producers led by Warren Resources sued, arguing that state law pre-empts local control. The new ordinance relies on AB 3233, the 2024 state law that expressly lets local governments regulate or prohibit oil and gas operations, and the industry says it will go back to court.
Case: Warren Resources v. City of Los Angeles (challenge to the 2022 oil drilling ban) · 29 October 2026 · Open the trace
West Virginia's attorney general drops donor and Sierra Club subpoenas once climate groups take him to court
At a federal hearing on 28 October 2026, it emerged that West Virginia's attorney general had withdrawn the subpoenas demanding individual donor information from climate groups, and the Sierra Club confirmed its own subpoena was also withdrawn. The retreat came after West Virginia Rivers Coalition and 350.org sued, calling the consumer-protection subpoenas retaliation for their advocacy; the next day Judge Goodwin granted a restraining order on the remaining ones, finding they chilled First Amendment rights.
Case: West Virginia Rivers Coalition, Inc. v. McCuskey · 28 October 2026 · Open the trace
Hawaii officials and 55 groups mobilise against federal bills that would shield oil companies from the state's climate suits
On 30 October 2026 Representative Jill Tokuda and local groups held a 'No Immunity for Big Oil' rally on Oahu, and the Sierra Club of Hawaii delivered a letter from 55 organisations to the state's congressional delegation. They oppose Republican bills in Congress that would give the oil industry a liability shield against climate damages suits. The letter says the bills could harm the lawsuits already brought by the state and by Honolulu and Maui counties.
Case: City & County of Honolulu v. Sunoco LP · 30 October 2026 · Open the trace
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