Supreme Court hears major climate case

Justices appear unconvinced by oil arguments

Several Supreme Court Justices appeared skeptical Monday of a request from oil companies to preemptively block a climate change lawsuit that could hold them liable for climate damages.

Many of the justices raised questions about the court’s ability to even take up the case at this time.

“A number of the discussions that you’ve had with my colleagues make me think that we’re really early in this case – that this is sort of premature from the standpoint of this court exercising its jurisdiction,” liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson told Suncor Energy lawyer Kannon Shanmugam.

While Jackson’s skepticism is not necessarily a surprise, several of her conservative colleagues, namely Justices John Roberts and Neil Gorsuch, also asked tough questions of the fossil fuel firm and the Trump administration which backed it.

Suncor, alongside ExxonMobil, has asked the high court to toss a ruling from the Colorado Supreme Court that allowed a suit to proceed. The suit alleged that the energy companies misled the public about their products’ relationship to climate change and created a public nuisance.

The case could have implications for similar litigation around the nation, as states and localities have sued oil and other fossil fuel companies seeking compensation for damages they’ve suffered because of climate change.

The court could rule one of three ways: The justices could expressly block the case or expressly allow it to proceed, or they could rule that they don’t have jurisdiction at this point, which could allow the case to move forward, but could see the issue back at the high court at a later date.

Either of the latter two outcomes could be at least a partial win for the localities, as they would be able to move ahead with their case — at least in the short term.

Welcome to The Hill’s Energy & Environment newsletter, I’m Rachel Frazin — keeping you up to speed on the policies impacting everything from oil and gas to new supply chains.

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