Chevron asks Supreme Court for rematch in Louisiana wetlands case

(The Center Square) – A Louisiana jury last April determined oil giant Chevron owed $744 million for environmental damage to the state’s coastline. Chevron, seeking a rematch in a potentially friendlier arena, told the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday that a federal court should decide the case.

Chevron’s argument centers on a federal law that allows defendants to move certain lawsuits from state court to federal court when the claims are tied to actions taken under federal authority. Chevron, whose case has been joined by the Trump administration, says its World War II-era work supplying aviation gasoline for the U.S. brings it within that rule. The justices must decide whether that is enough to allow Chevron to move the case, previously decided by jurors in Plaquemines Parish, to federal court.

Chevron attorney Paul Clement argued the link is straightforward: Chevron’s predecessors produced the specific crude oil that was the “indispensable component” of the gas they refined for the government. He said the...