In 2021, the Supreme Court decided BP p.l.c. v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore. In this case, the Charm City sued the oil company in state court for causing certain environmental harms. BP removed the case to federal court. The district court remanded the case to state court. On appeal, the Fourth Circuit held that it lacked jurisdiction to review the remand order. Justice Gorsuch's majority opinion reversed the Fourth Circuit.
In BP, the Trump Justice Department filed an amicus brief. The SG contended that removal was likely proper:
In this case, there may well be a valid alternative basis for federal jurisdiction. Petitioners have focused (Br. 37-45) on their contention that respondent's tort claims necessarily arise under federal common law. As the United States explained in an amicus brief filed in City of Oakland—another case brought by localities alleging tort claims against fossil-fuel-producing companies in response to climate-change-related injuries—claims may be removable under 28 U.S.C. 1441(a) on the ground that, although nominally couched as state-law claims, they are inherently and necessarily federal in nature. See U.S. Amicus Reh'g Br. at 6-12, City of Oak-land, supra (No. 18-16663).
