PROFESSOR HANNAH WISEMAN QUOTED IN CLIMATE IN THE COURTS ARTICLE
May 2025 — Hannah Wiseman, professor of law, professor in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, and Institutes of Energy and the Environment co-funded faculty, was recently quoted in “Court Dismisses Pennsylvania County’s Lawsuit Against Big Oil,” for Climate in the Courts. The article discusses the split emerging among state courts addressing alleged deception of the public by fossil fuel companies’ climate change information campaigns.
Wiseman said that it is likely that the split will continue. “We’ll continue to see a divide here among the states, because the big question is whether these suits based on claims of deception and consumer impacts are really air quality claims in disguise. And you just have courts understandably coming to very different conclusions,” she told Climate in the Courts.
“I think [the fossil fuel] industry might be concerned this could ultimately go the way of tobacco,” Wiseman said. “It’s not at all clear that enough momentum will build for this to have the same outcome as the tobacco litigation. But the evidence is pretty powerful, if you can get a court to hear that evidence.”
Professor Hannah Wiseman is a Professor of Law, Professor in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, Institute of Energy and the Environment Co-funded Faculty Member, and Co-Director of the Penn State Center for Energy Law and Policy. Professor Wiseman teaches and writes in the areas of Energy Law, Property Law, Oil and Gas Law, Land Use Regulation, and Environmental Law. Her work focuses on the mechanics and design of regulation and governance in these areas. She explores the challenges of determining appropriate governance levels and fostering effective regulation that addresses externalities while enabling societally beneficial development.