The oil and gas industry is asking the Supreme Court to block local governments from suing fossil energy producers for climate change, arguing the lawsuits could impose “ruinous liability” on companies.
In a brief filed Thursday, ExxonMobil and Canada’s Suncor Energy outlined their arguments in a blockbuster case the court is expected to take up in the fall.
The companies are asking the court to overturn a 2025 Colorado Supreme Court ruling allowing a lawsuit filed against the companies by the city and county of Boulder, Colorado, to proceed in state court. The suit is one of dozens from local governments that seek compensation from fossil fuel companies for the costs of dealing with climate change.
If the Colorado ruling stands, the brief argues, it could “authorize all fifty states, the tens of thousands of municipalities, and even the hundreds of millions of individuals in our country to ask local courts to establish countless, conflicting climate policies for the nation.”
