The justices decided to take up a request from ExxonMobil and Suncor to toss a suit brought against them by the city and county of Boulder, Colo.
Their petition asks the judges to go beyond the one case and to decide whether federal law prevents state-level claims of climate-related injury. The decision could have implications beyond this one case, as cities and states around the nation have sued energy firms over their contributions to climate change.
In asking the judges to take the case, lawyers for Exxon and Suncor wrote, “Boulder, Colorado, cannot make energy policy for the entire country.”
Boulder sued the companies, alleging that they “knowingly and substantially contributed to the climate crisis by producing, promoting and selling a substantial portion of the fossil fuels.”
Their suit noted that climate change exacerbates extreme weather, and claimed it will cost them millions of dollars to respond.
Meanwhile, the oil companies, in their Supreme Court brief, also argued that regulating interstate pollution “is an inherently federal area necessarily governed by federal law.”
Read at TheHill.com.
