Supreme Court to weigh whether oil companies can be forced to pay for climate damage
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Set us as preferred WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court will open its new term Monday by hearing arguments on whether the oil and gas industry may be forced to pay damages for the scorching heat waves, wildfires and droughts that are blamed on climate change.It’s a momentous question the justices have put off deciding for nearly a decade — and may do so again.
California joined more than two dozen blue states and municipalities in 2023 when it sued the five largest oil companies, alleging “decades of deception” over the danger of a warming climate.They have “privately known the truth for decades but have fed us lies and mistruths to further their record-breaking profits at the expense of our environment,” California Atty.
Gen.Rob Bonta said.Such climate-change lawsuits were patterned after the mass claims against the tobacco and opioid industries.
Both were accused of concealing the dangers of their very profitable products.But the climate suits have stalled.
Judges have been divided over whether these potentially huge claims should be decided in federal or state court, and if so, under what law.Last year, Boulder County, Colo., won a 5-2 ruling in the state Supreme Court that allowed its 2018 suit to proceed as a claim of a public nuisance, an unjust enrichment or a civil conspiracy.These are referred to as “common law” claims that are long-standing and traditional but do not rely on a measure approved by the Legislature.
California California has sued five of the largest oil and gas companies in the world, alleging that they engaged in a ‘decades-long campaign of deception’ about climate change and the risks posed by fossil fuels.The Colorado judges also said the climate-change suits are not “preempted” or blocked by federal anti-pollution laws because the suit for damages did not regulate greenho...