What Happened?
Who pays when climate change hits your hometown: you and your neighbors, or the energy companies? The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments Oct. 5 in a case that could determine whether state and local governments may use state tort law to seek money from energy companies for localized climate harms, according to a Congressional Research Service report. The case, *Suncor Energy (U.S.A.) Inc. v. County Commissioners of Boulder County*, centers on whether federal law blocks those state-court climate lawsuits, according to a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report published Sept. 30.
Over the past decade, state and local governments have filed dozens of similar suits against energy companies. A ruling here could shut down or greenlight all of them at once.
Why Does it Matter to Me?
If the Court rules that federal law overrides state claims, cities and counties lose a legal tool they have been using to seek money for local climate-related costs. If the suits proceed, energy companies could face claims for monetary compensation in state courts, according to a Congressional Research Service report.
Both Sides, Now
Nearly 200 members of Congress and more than 40 states have filed friend-of-the-court briefs, split between supporting Boulder and supporting the energy companies. The Department of Justice filed an unsolicited brief siding with the energy companies, reversing the position taken by the previous administration in a similar case.
Supporters of the energy companies argue federal law should govern climate policy uniformly, not a patchwork of state courts. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments Oct. 5 in a case that could decide whether state and local governments may use state tort law to seek money from energy companies for localized climate harms, according to a Congressional Research Service report published Sept. 30.
Two bills in the current Congress, the Stop Climate Shakedowns Act (H.R. 8330) and its Senate companion (S. 4340), both introduced April 16, would bar suits seeking climate-related relief against energy companies. Neither has yet been scheduled for a vote.
What Happens Next?
Before ruling on federal preemption, the Court must first decide whether Suncor and Exxon Mobil have standing to appeal and whether it has jurisdiction at all, since Boulder argues the Colorado Supreme Court's ruling was not a final judgment. If the Court sides with Boulder on either point, the preemption question goes unanswered.
The CRS report notes Congress retains authority to resolve the dispute by expressly allowing or barring such suits. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a proposed rule on Sept. 17 interpreting the Clean Air Act as not authorizing regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources, and the Congressional Research Service report says congressional limits on the agency's greenhouse gas authority "could undermine CAA-based preemption arguments" like those Suncor is advancing.
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