Some of the world’s biggest oil companies are once again vying for the Supreme Court to rescue them from a legal quagmire that could cost their industry billions of dollars.
Their petition asks the high court to examine a question the justices have previously declined to answer: whether federal law prevents dozens of U.S. cities, states and counties from suing Exxon Mobil, Chevron and other oil majors in state court for lying to the public about the dangers of fossil fuels.
Industry lawyers wrote in the petition that there is now “clear conflict” among lower courts on that question.
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“Without this Court’s intervention, years might pass before another opportunity to address this pressing question comes along,” the companies wrote.
