July 11 (Reuters) - A Maryland judge on Thursday

dismissed a lawsuit by the city of Baltimore seeking to hold

energy giants such as Exxon Mobil ( XOM ), BP and

Chevron ( CVX ) responsible for climate change, saying the case

went beyond the limits of state law by trying to address the

effects of gas emissions globally.

Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Videtta Brown's decision

marked the first time that a state court judge has dismissed one

of the myriad of lawsuits nationally by state or local

governments accusing the companies of concealing from the public

the dangers of using their fossil fuel products.

The lawsuit accused the companies of engaging in a

sophisticated campaign to deceive the public about the dangers

of their fossil-fuel products, which contribute to

greenhouse-gas pollution and climate change.

"There is no question that global warming and climate change

are wreaking havoc on our environment," Brown wrote.

But the judge said Congress never intended for lawsuits

about global pollution to be handled by individual states, and

that the city's 2018 lawsuit raised questions concerning

out-of-state emissions that were beyond the reach of Maryland

law.

For years, the energy companies had fought to avoid

litigating Baltimore's lawsuit in state court, where it was

first filed, even taking the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court,

before federal courts sent the case back to state court.

But Brown said only federal law can govern claims over such

emissions. She called Baltimore's contention that it was suing

under state law only over allegedly deceptive fossil fuel

marketing "a way to get in the back door what they cannot get in

the front door."

Theodore Boutrous, a lawyer for Chevron ( CVX ), in a statement said

the ruling "recognizes that climate policy cannot be advanced by

the unconstitutional application of state law to regulate global

emissions."

Sara Gross, the chief of the affirmative litigation division

in the Baltimore City Department of Law, in a statement said the

city disagreed with the ruling and planned to appeal.

State courts are often seen as more advantageous for

plaintiffs than federal court. State court judges in other parts

of the country including Hawaii, Massachusetts and Colorado have

allowed similar cases to move forward.

Some cases, though, have been dismissed by federal courts,

including one by New York City in a 2021 ruling whose rationale

Brown followed in dismissing Baltimore's case.

The U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether to hear a bid

by oil companies to scuttle a similar lawsuit by Honolulu.