Biden’s Climate Support Could Spawn More Cases Against Big Oil

State and local governments suing Big Oil over climate change got a boost last week when Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden committed to supporting their cause—a move that could encourage more lawsuits against the industry if Biden wins.

Biden’s sweeping clean energy plan, unveiled July 14, includes a pledge to instruct the attorney general to “strategically support ongoing plaintiff-driven climate litigation against polluters,” a reference to more than a dozen lawsuits seeking money from fossil fuel companies for local harms related to global temperature rise.

The plan doesn’t go into detail on the commitment, but any federal support ...