Baltimore and the other jurisdictions are seeking damages under state law for the harms they said they have sustained due to climate change, which they attribute in part to the companies’ role in producing fossil fuels that produce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The claims involve oil production and marketing, not the harmful emissions themselves.

The plaintiffs, for instance, have said they have had to spend more on infrastructure such as flood-control measures to combat sea-level rise caused by a warming climate.