More than 100 House Republicans are asking the Supreme Court to block a swath of climate lawsuits that seek compensation from Exxon Mobil and other fossil fuel industry behemoths.
In a friend of the court brief filed Thursday, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) and 102 other members of Congress threw their weight behind oil companies that say the claims are not viable and should be tossed out of state courts.
The lawmakers’ brief comes two months after Exxon, along with Suncor Energy, asked the justices to review a Colorado Supreme Court decision that gave the city and county of Boulder a green light to have their lawsuit against the companies tried in state court.
The Colorado court’s decision, the lawmakers argue, would allow a “balkanized patchwork of state and local regulation over matters of uniquely federal concern.” They urged the U.S. Supreme Court to move swiftly.
