What happened
The US Supreme Court is set to consider a case, Suncor Energy v. Boulder County, which could have significant implications for manufacturers and job growth across the nation. The case involves a lawsuit by Boulder County and the City of Boulder against Suncor Energy and Exxon Mobil, seeking to hold them financially responsible for local climate-related harms due to their production and sale of fossil fuels.
Over three dozen similar climate cases are pending across the country, with governments suing companies for their alleged role in climate change. However, manufacturers argue that climate change is a global issue that cannot be addressed through state lawsuits, and that assigning legal responsibility for it is a matter for federal policymaking.
Attorneys involved in the litigation have acknowledged that the goal is to raise the price of oil, gas, and other forms of energy, effectively creating an indirect carbon tax that would be passed on to consumers. Manufacturers argue that this approach would lead to a patchwork of lawsuits and legal uncertainty, discouraging investment, constraining innovation, and threatening jobs.
The Supreme Court has previously recognized that greenhouse gas emissions are an interstate and international issue, and that federal law governs claims involving them. Manufacturers are investing in technologies to reduce emissions and improve energy efficiency, but argue that the rules for addressing climate change should be established through federal policymaking, not state lawsuits.
