Republicans introduce extreme bill to ban lawsuits against Big Oil forever

Last week, Big Oil’s top-funded Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Representative Harriet Hageman (R-WY) introduced a bill called the Stop Climate Shakedowns Act of 2026. They framed it as a way to “protect American energy from leftist legal crusades punishing lawful activity.”

What it actually does is give the fossil fuel industry a permanent shield against lawsuits and state laws that seek to hold the industry financially accountable for climate change, and for misleading the public about the catastrophic health, economic and environmental consequences of using their products.

The gun industry achieved a similar type of legal immunity in 2005. That law, called Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, has largely prevented victims of gun violence from seeking justice against irresponsible industry actors, and has sometimes resulted in victims being forced to pay gun industry legal fees.