Supreme Court Tangles Over a Major Climate Change Case

The Supreme Court justices wrestled on Monday with the first case of their new term, a complex dispute over whether local governments can hold oil companies responsible for the damages of climate change — with billions of dollars potentially hanging in the balance.Officials in Boulder, Colo., sued two oil companies, Exxon Mobil and Suncor Energy, claiming that they should be liable for the costs of a changing climate, like droughts, fires and floods.Depending on its scope, a decision for the oil companies could doom dozens of other similar lawsuits by states, cities and tribes percolating in courts throughout the country.As the justices begin their latest term, their docket is shaping up to reflect some of the continuing cultural flash points in American life.They are poised to hear arguments on President Trump’s immigration agenda, religious rights and whether assault weapons bans violate the Second Amendment.

Throughout the summer months, they have been asked to weigh in on a number of elections-related cases as the midterms approach, and they may see more such disputes.Most of the arguments regarding the climate change case on Monday were highly technical, focusing on whether federal law blocked these types of lawsuits, and whether the case had reached a point at which the Supreme Court had the power to hear it at all.But justices across the ideological spectrum, including some conservatives, posed skeptical questions to the oil companies.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe....