Chevron, Oil Giants Request Dismissal of California Climate Case

Federal statute prohibits California and its cities from blaming individual companies for the effects of global warming, several oil companies said in a filing asking a San Francisco judge to dismiss the case against them.

Chevron, BP, Exxon, ConocoPhillips and Shell, defendants in a lawsuit by the state, argued that California and San Francisco can’t blame five companies for the global epidemic of climate change.

Allowing the case to move forward would encroach on the U.S. government’s ability to shape policy, the filing said.

The companies claim the state and city failed to allege any direct harm caused explicitly by ...