Anna Moneymaker, Staff / Getty Imageson why a series of lawsuits claiming they should be held liable for damages caused by climate change should be moved to federal court.
"This case is not about changing national climate policy — it’s about accountability for the climate harms in Colorado that companies like Exxon and Suncor are responsible for,” he said in a statement.As is custom, the Supreme Court did not explain why they would not hear the cases. The court did say Justice Samuel Alito had recused himself on two of the five climate cases in which requests for hearings been filed with the court.
The decision marks another setback for oil companies, setting them up for the prospect of defending themselves in multiple jurisdictions against claims that could add up to tens of billions of dollars. It follows a decision by the Biden administration last month rejecting oil companies’ argument the state and local cases should be heard in federal court.
Acting on a request for input from the Supreme Court, Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar wrote, “the United States has reexamined its position and has concluded that state-law claims like those pleaded here should not be recharacterized as claims arising under federal common law.”