The Supreme Court’s pending suit on climate tort litigation hit another milestone this month. Suncor and Exxon Mobil are appealing the Colorado Supreme Court’s 2025 decision ruling that the City of Boulder could move forward with its climate tort suit. Earlier this month, the Appellants filed their brief outlining their main arguments in the case. The brief states in part:
“[…] if the rule in that decision were adopted on a national scale, it would authorize all fifty States, the tens of thousands of municipalities, and even the hundreds of millions of individuals in our country to ask local courts to establish countless, conflicting climate policies for the Nation. Giving even a single jury the power to impose ruinous liability on selected members of the energy industry is a recipe for chaos. Unleashing juries nationwide is a recipe for disaster.”
The arguments seem to focus less on the rights of the Plaintiffs and more on the potential public policy impacts of widespread climate litigation. We’ll have to wait to see if the Supreme Court finds these arguments convincing. Initially, I wrote that we could expect a decision on the issue this summer. However, with the delayed filing schedule in place, oral arguments are unlikely to be heard until the next session. This means that we’ll probably have to wait until summer 2027 for a full Opinion from the Supreme Court.
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