Citing a financial conflict, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Thursday recused himself from a case that could help energy companies fight lawsuits seeking to hold them responsible for coastal degradation in Louisiana.
The court is poised to hear arguments Monday in Chevron USA v. Plaquemines Parish as part of an ongoing fight over whether oil majors can be held accountable for damaging Louisiana’s coastline with fossil fuel production that dates back to World War II.
Advocacy groups had been pressing Alito to step back from the case, noting he has previously bowed out of matters involving ConocoPhillips and its subsidiaries because he holds stock in the company.
One of the companies involved in Chevron v. Plaquemines Parish withdrew just before the court agreed in June to take up the case. The company, Burlington Resources Oil & Gas, is a wholly owned subsidiary of ConocoPhillips, and advocates said the move was a “cynical attempt” to avoid forcing Alito to recuse himself.
