A federal appeals court ruled that lawsuits by Delaware and Hoboken, N.J., seeking compensation from oil companies for the impacts of climate change should be decided in state, not federal courts. The decision Wednesday is the latest procedural victory by state and municipal governments, which have sought to bring climate-liability cases against companies such as Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and Shell PLC under state laws, after similar earlier efforts under federal laws proved unsuccessful. The lawsuits before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit are among at least two dozen filed by states and cities in recent years, arguing that the oil industry should be on the hook for damages caused by fossil fuels. The cases, which environmentalists have likened to state litigation against tobacco companies for recovery of healthcare costs, represent a major legal threat to the oil industry. Oil companies have sought to resolve […]