Sneaky leftist lawsuits are taking aim at US energy dominance

Midway through 2026, energy is the issue of the moment.The standoff in the Strait of Hormuz, soaring gas prices, the race to build AI data centers, and intensifying competition with China all point to the same question: Who will produce the energy that powers the modern world?That question is now headed to the US Supreme Court.In a few months, the justices will hear arguments in one of the most consequential energy cases in decades, Suncor v.Boulder County.It’s one of dozens of lawsuits brought by progressive state and local governments seeking to make oil and gas companies pay for global warming.The high court’s decision could determine not only the future of climate litigation, but whether the United States remains an energy superpower.If the justices greenlight Boulder’s climate claims, the sky’s the limit on the liability costs the energy industry could face.The lawsuit cites damages “in the billions of dollars.”That’s just a starting point — in an identical case, a single Oregon county is seeking more than $50 billion in climate damages.Together, these cases threaten to extract hundreds of billions of dollars from America’s energy sector.And make no mistake, these costs would be passed on to consumers, just as green mandates have spiked gas prices and electricity bills in California, New York, Europe, and elsewhere.The architects of these lawsuits openly admit what’s going on: One of the legal strategists behind the Boulder case has said that the goal is to impose a de facto “carbon tax” through the courts.“This is a rather convoluted way to achieve the goals of a carbon tax,” David Bookbinder of the Environmental Integrity Project said last year.

“The people who use the products pay for the damage that they cause.”Since carbon-emitting fuels still make up over 80% of US energy consumption, pretty much every American would be forced to pay up.Strip away the legalese, and the core dispute at the center of the climate cas...