Supreme Court Enters Climate Litigation Fray, Weighing State vs. Federal Jurisdiction in Landmark Energy Company Cases
The Supreme Court is stepping into a growing wave of climate change litigation, agreeing to hear cases that will decide whether lawsuits against energy companies should be heard in state or federal courts. Local governments from Boulder to Baltimore are suing fossil fuel companies, alleging they knowingly contributed to climate change through greenhouse gas emissions. The energy companies argue these cases belong in federal court, while municipalities want them in state courts where they might find more favorable rulings. The legal battle centers on whether climate damages claims constitute federal questions or state law issues like public nuisance. The Court's decision could either open floodgates for more climate lawsuits or effectively end them by moving them to federal jurisdiction. This comes as climate litigation is increasing globally, with courts worldwide grappling with how to assign responsibility for climate impacts. Several cases are before the Court, including ones involving ExxonMobil, Suncor Energy, and other major fossil fuel companies. The outcomes could redefine how companies are held accountable for environmental impacts and set precedents for future climate-related litigation. Legal experts suggest this could be one of the most significant environmental law decisions in decades.
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Climate change plaintiffs now claim that greenhouse gases are causing property damage through fire, flood, and frost, ignoring the role of Mother Nature. Creative attorneys are repackaging these natural catastrophes as the consequence of the “nefarious” activities of alleged greenhouse ...
Supreme Court agrees to hear arguments from oil and gas companies trying to block climate change lawsuits | PBS News
President Donald Trump's administration ... to global climate change." Trump, a Republican, criticized the lawsuits in an executive order, and the Justice Department has sought to head some off in court. Attorneys for Boulder had agued that the litigation is still in early stages ...
Supreme Court steps into wave of local climate lawsuits | Columnists | chronicleonline.com
In the 2011 case American Electric ... greenhouse gas emissions. The high court was widely expected to revisit the broader question, though the timing remained uncertain. The justices previously declined to intervene in similar cases on procedural grounds, including rejecting review of a Hawaii Supreme Court ruling last year. The decision could determine whether climate lawsuits remain in ...
Creative attorneys are repackaging ... alleged greenhouse gas polluters, such as oil and gas companies. Whether these cases will be allowed to be brought in state court before sympathetic juries is now a question posed to the Supreme Court. ... Just about every major law school is incorporating climate change lawsuits in its ...
Supreme Court to weigh bid by energy companies to end state-court climate change suits - CBS News
Boulder officials alleged in their lawsuit that the "unchecked production, promotion, refining, marketing and sale of fossil fuels" around the world led to "unchecked fossil fuel use" and an increased concentration of greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere, which has then warmed the planet.
SCOTUS will consider whether cities, states can sue oil firms over climate damage | Bond Buyer
Suncor Energy v. County Commissioners ... greenhouse-gas emissions on the global climate." They also asked parties to consider whether the court has the power to hear the case at all. The city and county of Boulder, Colo. in 2018 sued Exxon Mobil and Canadian-based Suncor Energy, arguing the companies knowingly contributed to global climate change and causing millions of dollars of local damage. The Colorado Supreme Court last May ruled that the lawsuit could ...
Boulder’s lawsuit argues that the companies violated state laws like public nuisance, trespass and conspiracy, among others, and should help communities pay to adapt and recover from increasingly devastating and expensive climate disasters.
The Supreme Court will review whether ... alleged climate change damages. On Feb. 23, the court granted certiorari to review a Colorado Supreme Court ruling in Suncor Energy Inc. v. County Commissioners of Boulder County. The court will specifically examine whether the federal Clean Air Act preempts state-law nuisance claims seeking damages from oil and gas companies. Justices are expected to examine a Colorado ruling allowing a lawsuit against ExxonMobil ...
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