WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court handed a win Friday to oil and gas companies fighting lawsuits over coastal land loss and environmental degradation in Louisiana.

The unanimous procedural decision gives the companies a new day in federal court after a state jury ordered Chevron to pay upward of $740 million to clean up damage to the state’s coastline, one of multiple similar lawsuits.

Backed by the Trump administration, Chevron and others had asked that the lawsuits be considered in the federal court system. They said that allegations raised by Plaquemines Parish pertained to World War II-era oil production, when the industry was working to quickly increase the supply of aviation gasoline for the U.S. government.

The high court agreed. Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for the 8-0 court, noted Congress has long allowed lawsuits against the government and its contractors to be heard in federal court and this suit is clearly related to Chevron’s wartime efforts to bolster the U.S. aviation fuel supply.

Environmentalists criticized the ruling.

“This ruling gives fossil-fuel companies another procedural tool to avoid accountability," said Caroline Flynn, a lawyer for Earthjustice, which was not among the parties to the lawsuit. She feared that other cases related to environmental damage cases will be moved to federal court because of "happenstance federal connections."

The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry said the decision would aid the state's "economic competitiveness." 

“Forum shopping and the weaponization of our legal system has real-world consequences for capital investment, insurance markets and job growth throughout Louisiana. Today’s ruling restores a measure of confidence that the rule of law will be applied consistently and fairly," LABI President and CEO Will Green said.

Louisiana’s coastal parishes have lost more than 2,000 square miles of land over the past century, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, which has also identified oil and gas infrastructure as a significant cause. The state could lose an additional 3,000 square miles in the coming decades, its coastal protection agency has warned.

Republican Gov. Jeff Landry backed the lawsuits when he was attorney general, even though he’s a longtime oil and gas industry supporter. An attorney for local Louisiana leaders said they disagree with the decision but plan to keep the lawsuits alive. “We will aggressively defend the rights of Louisiana citizens and will continue in our fight to restore and rebuild what has been harmed or destroyed,” attorney John Carmouche said.

The companies appealed to the high court after jurors in Plaquemines Parish — a sliver of land straddling the Mississippi River into the Gulf — found that energy giant Texaco, acquired by Chevron in 2001, had for decades violated Louisiana regulations governing coastal resources by failing to restore wetlands impacted by dredging canals, drilling wells and billions of gallons of wastewater dumped into the marsh.

Chevron applauded the Supreme Court’s decision, saying the claims are related to work that the companies did under federal supervision. “Chevron looks forward to litigating these cases in federal court, where they belong,” the company said in a statement.

The company denies responsibility for land loss in Louisiana and argues it’s wrong to sue it for what it did before state environmental regulations were in place.

The case is one of dozens of lawsuits filed in 2013 alleging oil giants including Chevron and ExxonMobil violated state environmental laws for decades. Friday’s ruling overturns a 2024 decision from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and affects 11 of the 42 cases against various oil companies, Carmouche said.

Louisiana's attorney general said she was confident that oil companies would remain on the hook.

“A jury in one of the most conservative, pro–oil and gas communities in the country found that Chevron was liable for billions of gallons of toxic waste dumped into the Louisiana marsh. It doesn’t matter whether this case is in state court or federal court—I am confident the outcome will be the same," Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a statement.

Justice Samuel Alito recused himself from the case, pointing to financial ties to ConocoPhillips. He's previously recused himself from other cases due to his stock holdings.