Big Oil asks Supreme Court to kill climate lawsuits before trial

The Supreme Court heard argument in the 2018 Boulder v. ExxonMobil and Suncor case that sits at the center of more than two dozen lawsuits alleging oil companies deceived the public about climate change and should pay billions in damages for climate-related costs. Oil-company lawyers told the justices federal law - principally the Clean Air Act and the Constitution’s allocation of interstate pollution authority - bars state and local nuisance and deception claims and that allowing Boulder’s suit to proceed would let municipalities effectively set national and international energy policy, a consequence they warned could empower some 90,000 local governments to seek catastrophic jury awards. Boulder’s lawyers countered the suit seeks only damages for alleged deception, not emissions limits, and insisted nothing in federal law prevents states and cities from pursuing remedies that have secondary effects on pollution.

Justices focused less on merits than on technical thresholds: whether the court has jurisdiction to intervene before a final ruling and whether federal preemption applies. Several conservative justices signaled sympathy for preemption arguments, while questions from the bench, including from Justice Clarence Thomas, probed timing and scope. Justice Samuel Alito recused himself, leaving a tie possibility. With many parallel cases paused and states and the federal government jockeying via new laws, briefs and interventions, a decision expected by June will either halt those claims or allow trials to proceed.