Today: ALEC To Vote On Big Oil Immunity Bill Disguised As "Consumer Protection" Says Consumer Watchdog

Fossil-fuel-backed group's proposal would bar consumers, communities and states from holding oil companies accountable for climate deception

WASHINGTON, July 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The fossil-fuel-linked American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) will vote Thursday on sweeping model legislation that would close courthouse doors to consumers and communities seeking to hold Big Oil accountable for climate deception, Consumer Watchdog said today.

ALEC calls the proposal the "Energy Producers and Consumers Protection Act," but the draft does the opposite of protecting consumers. It would provide fossil fuel producers, petroleum trade associations and their executives with broad immunity from lawsuits alleging fraud, misrepresentation, failure to warn and deceptive business practices.

"Calling this consumer protection is like calling a fox a henhouse security guard," said Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog. "Real consumer protection means that when a corporation knows its product poses catastrophic risks, lies about those risks and leaves families and taxpayers with the bill, consumers can take that company to court. ALEC's proposal protects the deceivers, punishes their victims and puts Big Oil above the law."

ALEC's Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force is scheduled to vote on the proposal today, Thursday, July 23, during ALEC's annual meeting in Orlando. Proposals approved through ALEC's process become official model policies for state legislators to introduce and customize across the country.

The draft declares an affirmative right to produce, refine, transport and sell fossil fuels while setting liability for climate-related claims at "zero dollars" — a legal declaration that Big Oil owes nothing, even if its deception is proven in court. It prohibits lawsuits based on fraud, fraudulent concealment, misrepresentation, failure to warn, nuisance and other state-law claims. It requires pending cases to be dismissed, blocks climate-superfund laws, prohibits state and local governments from pursuing climate cases, and forces unsuccessful plaintiffs to pay industry legal fees. It would even apply retroactively.

The legislation is advancing through an organization with longstanding financial and governance ties to the fossil fuel industry. ExxonMobil contributed more than $1.7 million to ALEC over roughly two decades before ending its membership in 2018. Koch Industries' government affairs operation currently serves on ALEC's Private Enterprise Advisory Council, while Koch family foundations and affiliated organizations have provided ALEC with well over $1 million in documented support over the years. Over the years, ALEC's energy task forces and corporate membership have included major fossil fuel companies and trade associations such as Chevron, BP, Shell, Marathon Petroleum, and the American Petroleum Institute. Those companies and trade groups have not merely supported ALEC financially—they represent many of the same interests that stand to benefit if this model legislation becomes law. 

The beneficiaries are not hypothetical. Chevron has been named in virtually every major climate deception lawsuit filed by states and local governments, while ExxonMobil, BP, and Shell are among the most frequently named defendants nationwide. Marathon Petroleum has also been sued in multiple climate accountability cases. The American Petroleum Institute, the nation's largest oil and gas lobbying organization, is itself a defendant in several climate deception lawsuits alleging it helped coordinate decades of industry misinformation. Together, these lawsuits have been brought by California, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Delaware, Hawaiʻi, Maine, the District of Columbia, and numerous cities and counties, including Chicago and Multnomah County, Oregon, seeking to recover the costs of climate damages and hold the fossil fuel industry accountable for allegedly misleading the public about the risks of its products. ALEC's proposal would slam the courthouse doors on those cases, shielding many of the same companies and organizations connected to ALEC from ever having to answer those allegations in court. 

"This is not neutral public policy emerging from an academic debate," Court said. "It is a liability escape plan moving through a political organization financed and advised by fossil-fuel interests, including interests already accused in court of deceiving consumers. They knew. They lied. Now they want their political allies to erase the public's right to hold them accountable."

The ALEC proposal parallels the federal Stop Climate Shakedowns Act of 2026, introduced by Senator Ted Cruz and Representative Harriet Hageman, which would also broadly shield oil and gas companies from climate-related lawsuits and state accountability laws.

"No industry should be allowed to purchase immunity from the consequences of its misconduct," Court said. "Legislators should reject this ALEC sham and Congress should reject any attempt to bar Americans from their own courts."

SOURCE Consumer Watchdog