The Trump administration, Republican senators, nearly 100 representatives and 27 red states joined forces on behalf of the oil and gas industry Thursday, urging the Supreme Court to block local governments from suing fossil fuel producers for climate change.
Allies of energy producers — including several “dark money” groups with conservative backing — along with the American Petroleum Institute and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, filed more than two dozen “friend of the court” briefs on behalf of oil companies.
The legal show of force for the industry comes a week after Exxon Mobil and Canada’s Suncor Energy outlined their arguments in Suncor v. Boulder, a blockbuster climate case the Supreme Court will decide next term.
Exxon, Suncor and others have asked the justices 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 seeking compensation from fossil fuel companies for the costs of dealing with climate change. The companies contend the lawsuits could cost them billions of dollars, if successful.
