Oil and gas companies argue that federal law prevents local governments from trying to recover damages from climate change damage.
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WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court will take up local efforts to pursue major oil and gas companies such as ExxonMobil and Sunko for damages caused by climate change, an issue that has been debated in state courts across the country for years.
The court said on February 23 that it would consider whether it has jurisdiction to hear the dispute and, if so, whether federal law prohibits such suits, including one brought by officials in Boulder, Colorado.
In the lawsuit, which began in 2018, the city and surrounding states argue that the companies violated state law by misleading the public about the environmental impacts of fossil fuels and that they need help covering the costs to communities caused by climate change.
Both companies deny the allegations and argue that local governments cannot use state law to address global environmental problems.
“Boulder, Colorado cannot set energy policy for the entire country,” lawyers for the companies wrote in their appeal.
But Boulder’s lawyers said the Constitution does not prevent state and local governments from “addressing in-state harm caused by out-of-state conduct, whether it be negligent car design or the sale of asbestos.”
A number of lawsuits filed across the country against big energy companies are modeled after successful challenges against tobacco and opioid companies and rely on consumer protection laws and public nuisance claims.
The industry is trying to block them from going to trial, a move supported by the Trump administration.
The Justice Department told the Supreme Court that Boulder’s lawsuit is barred by both the Constitution and the Clean Air Act, the federal law regulating air pollution.
The Colorado Supreme Court’s 5-2 decision to allow the city to proceed with its lawsuit was “clearly wrong on an issue of great national importance,” the Justice Department wrote in urging the high court to intervene.
This differs from the Biden administration’s position. In a similar case in Hawaii, the Justice Department said in 2024 that the Supreme Court should not get involved until state courts have fully litigated the issue.
The high court rejected the fossil fuel industry’s appeal of the Hawaii case in 2025 and previously declined to intervene in the Colorado dispute.
The case, Suncor Energy v. Boulder County Board of County Commissioners, is scheduled to be argued in the fall.
