US supreme court hears big oil’s bid to block climate damage lawsuits

RIGHT THE TIMELINE ON THIS IS MAD AND SO WE ARE BASICALLY WATCHING THE SUPREME COURT START THEIR NINE MONTH TERM BY LOOKING AT WHETHER EXXONMOBIL AND SUNCOR ENERGY CAN JUST SHUT DOWN THESE CLIMATE LAWSUITS AT THE STATE LEVEL, WHICH IS WILD BECAUSE BOULDER COUNTY IS OUT HERE TRYING TO MAKE THESE GIANTS PAY FOR SOME OF THE COSTS OF THE CLIMATE CRISIS ON LOCAL TAXPAYERS, AND THE OIL COMPANIES ARE ARGUING THAT FEDERAL LAW SHOULD BLOCK THESE STATE COURT ACTIONS ENTIRELY. THE EXPERTS SAY THE JUSTICES MIGHT FIND IT SUPER TOUGH TO WRITE A MAJORITY DECISION FOR THE INDUSTRY, BUT IF THE OIL COMPANIES WIN, IT COULD KILL OFF DOZENS OF OTHER CASES NATIONWIDE, BUT NOBODY KNOWS WHICH WAY THEY ARE LEANING YET. ANYWAY WHOSE ROUND IS IT?

I AM NOT EVEN EXAGGERATING RIGHT NOW WHEN I SAY THE SUPREME COURT JUST SPENT TWO HOURS LISTENING TO ARGUMENTS ABOUT WHETHER BIG OIL CAN DODGE CLIMATE ACCOUNTABILITY SUITS IN STATE COURTS. SO SUNCOR ENERGY AND EXXONMOBIL ARE REALLY TRYING TO STRIKE A FATAL BLOW TO THE BOULDER COUNTY CASE, CLAIMING FEDERAL LAW PREVENTS STATE JUDGES FROM HEARING IT, AND APPARENTLY IF THEY CONVINCE THE JUSTICES, IT COULD IMPACT DOZENS OF SIMILAR LAWSUITS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. THE JUSTICES HAVE NOT SIGNALED WHICH WAY THEY ARE GOING YET, WHICH IS HONESTLY FASCINATING BECAUSE THE WHOLE THING HINGES ON JURISDICTION AND WHO HAS TO PICK UP THE BILL FOR CLIMATE CRISIS COSTS. ANYWAY THAT IS THE SHORT VERSION, ASK ME LATER.

The US Supreme Court heard arguments in a case where ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy are attempting to block state-level climate lawsuits from local governments like Boulder County.

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