The
Supreme Court
on Monday rejected several disputes with
oil and gas
companies that sought a venue change for nearly two dozen lawsuits that blame the industry for contributing to
climate change
.
Energy companies were rebuffed in their pursuit to shift the lawsuits from state to federal court, in which corporate defendants often have better odds in their favor. The companies argued they are governed by federal law, giving them the ability to move the cases out of state court.
LAWSUITS HEAT UP THE CLIMATE CHANGE DEBATE
The primary appeal, led by
Exxon Mobil
and
Suncor Energy
, sought to move the suit by two Colorado counties and the city of Boulder. The lawsuit against the companies argues they should compensate taxpayers for the increased cost of maintaining roads and fighting forest fires.
At the federal appeals court level, judges held that Exxon and Suncor lacked the grounds to remove the suit from state court because Colorado law governs the claims.
Other companies that pushed for appeals in cases filed by Colorado local governments were Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Shell, Phillips 66, and BP.
Justice Samuel Alito
recused
himself from the decision on whether to grant the petitions from the oil companies and did not state any reason, though either he or his wife owns stock in ConocoPhillips and Phillips 66,
according
to his most recent financial disclosure report.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
In a previous case, the high court ruled in favor of oil companies in 2021 on a procedural issue from a similar lawsuit brought by the city of Baltimore.
The 6-3 Republican-appointed court has ruled differently on other legal matters surrounding climate change disputes. Last year, the justices ruled to limit the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency to address climate change under a provision of the Clean Air Act.
