[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4340 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4340
To prohibit liability against those engaged in the mining, extraction,
production, refinement, transportation, distribution, marketing,
manufacture, or sale of energy for damages or injunctive or other
relief from the use of their products, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 16 (legislative day, April 14), 2026
Mr. Cruz (for himself, Mr. Budd, Mr. Cotton, and Mr. Lee) introduced
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit liability against those engaged in the mining, extraction,
production, refinement, transportation, distribution, marketing,
manufacture, or sale of energy for damages or injunctive or other
relief from the use of their products, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Stop Climate Shakedowns Act of
2026''.
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL DECLARATION; PURPOSES; FINDINGS.
(a) Congressional Declaration.--Congress declares that the general
welfare and the common defense and security require effective action--
(1) to develop, and increase the efficiency of, all energy
sources to meet the needs of present and future generations;
(2) to increase the productivity of the economy of the
United States and strengthen the position of the United States
in regard to international trade;
(3) to make the United States self-sufficient in energy;
and
(4) to promote and preserve affordable energy for families
and businesses in the United States.
(b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to provide for the regulation of interstate commerce;
and
(2) to promote the production and use of affordable,
abundant, and reliable energy resources.
(c) Findings.--Congress finds that--
(1) affordable, abundant, and reliable energy resources are
a necessary component of the general welfare of the United
States;
(2) the production and use of abundant energy resources
promotes--
(A) the national security of the United States; and
(B) the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens
of the United States;
(3) the regulation of interstate, international, and
transboundary emissions in the ambient air is within the
exclusive jurisdiction of Federal law;
(4) the efforts of States to impose liability on persons
engaged in the energy business for interstate and global
emissions, whether through State tort law, consumer protection
claims, the passage and enforcement of so-called ``climate
superfund laws'', or other civil actions, invade the exclusive
jurisdiction of the Federal Government;
(5) the efforts to attribute local weather patterns and the
local harms that result from meteorological events, such as
floods, droughts, hurricanes, wildfires, or heat waves, to
persons engaged in the energy business lack scientific
credibility and are, therefore, arbitrary;
(6) the efforts of States and municipalities to impose
retroactive liability on persons engaged in the energy business
for otherwise lawful conduct offends elementary considerations
of fairness and the Constitution of the United States;
(7) the efforts described in paragraphs (4), (5), and (6)--
(A) are a strain on the judiciary;
(B) erode public confidence in the administration
of justice;
(C) threaten to destabilize entire industries that
are lawfully engaging in commerce in the United States;
and
(D) burden the interstate, Tribal, and foreign
commerce of the United States;
(8) the efforts described in paragraphs (4), (5), and (6)
undermine the national security of the United States, as
affordable, abundant, and reliable energy is critical for the
readiness of the Armed Forces of the United States and the
ability to deploy those Armed Forces to deter and counter the
adversaries of the United States;
(9) the efforts described in paragraphs (4), (5), and (6)
offend the equal sovereign dignity that each of the States
enjoys, invading the autonomy of the other States within their
respective spheres;
(10) the Commerce Clause of section 8 of article I of the
Constitution of the United States authorizes Congress to
regulate all commerce among the several States, with foreign
nations, and with Indian Tribes; and
(11) to discharge the constitutional duties of Congress,
the Commerce Clause of section 8 of article I of the
Constitution of the United States empowers Congress to craft
legislation under such terms and conditions as are necessary
and proper.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Climate suit.--The term ``climate suit'' means any suit
in law or equity that is brought against any person engaged in
the energy business that seeks damages, including punitive
damages, injunctive or declaratory relief, or abatement,
restitution, or any form of equitable or other relief for
alleged past or future harm resulting directly or indirectly
from climate change, including because of marketing, alleged
misrepresentation, alleged failure to warn, or any other
speech.
(2) Energy.--The term ``energy'' means crude oil, natural
gas, lease condensates, natural gas liquids, refined petroleum
products, or coal.
(3) Energy penalty law.--The term ``energy penalty law''
means any State law, regulation, or ordinance that purports to
require compensatory payments from, or otherwise expose to
liability, any person engaged in the energy business that the
law, regulation, or ordinance deems, either directly or through
an administrative process, responsible for alleged costs or
harms resulting directly or indirectly from climate change,
including because of marketing, alleged misrepresentation,
alleged failure to warn, or any other speech.
(4) Greenhouse gas.--The term ``greenhouse gas'' means a
gas released into the atmosphere that traps heat, including
carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide.
(5) Person.--The term ``person'' means any individual,
corporation, company, association, firm, partnership, society,
joint stock company, trade association, or other entity,
including any governmental entity, such as a State.
(6) Person engaged in the energy business.--The term
``person engaged in the energy business'' means a person that
devotes time, attention, or labor to the mining, extraction,
production, refinement, transportation, distribution,
manufacture, or sale of energy as a regular course of business
in or affecting interstate commerce.
(7) Qualified liability action.--The term ``qualified
liability action'' means a climate suit or any action or
proceeding to implement or enforce an energy penalty law that
is brought by any person against a person engaged in the energy
business.
(8) State.--The term ``State'' includes--
(A) each of the several States, the District of
Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United
States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands;
(B) any other territory or possession of the United
States;
(C) any political subdivision or instrumentality of
an entity described in subparagraph (A) or (B); and
(D) any State official acting in their official
capacity.
(9) Trade association.--The term ``trade association''
means any corporation, unincorporated association, federation,
business league, or professional or business organization--
(A) that is not organized or operated for profit;
(B) that is an organization described in subsection
(c)(6) of section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986 and exempt from taxation under subsection (a) of
that section; and
(C) 2 or more members of which are people engaged
in the energy business.
SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON ENERGY PENALTY LAWS AND THE BRINGING OF
QUALIFIED LIABILITY ACTIONS IN FEDERAL OR STATE COURT.
(a) In General.--A qualified liability action may not be filed or
maintained in any Federal or State court.
(b) Dismissal of Pending Actions.--Any qualified liability action
that is pending on the date of enactment of this Act shall be
immediately dismissed by the court in which the qualified liability
action is brought or is currently pending.
(c) Effect on State Laws.--Each energy penalty law is void and of
no effect.
(d) Federal Preemption.--
(1) In general.--The regulation of greenhouse gas emissions
and climate change is and continues to be governed exclusively
by Federal law and regulated by Federal agencies with authority
delegated to those Federal agencies by Congress.
(2) No private right of action.--No private right of action
or claim shall be maintained, implied, or inferred under any
State law with respect to climate change-related harms from
greenhouse gas emissions.
SEC. 5. SEVERABILITY.
If any provision of this Act or the application of such provision
to any person or circumstance is held to be unconstitutional, the
remainder of this Act and the application of the provision to any other
person or circumstance shall not be affected.
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