The Supreme Court’s consideration of Suncor v. Boulder has revealed divisions among the justices over whether state and local governments can use tort law to pursue climate-related claims against energy companies. While many observers expect a narrow ruling focused on specific preemption issues, uncertainty remains over whether the Court can muster a majority for a precedential decision.
“The arguments revealed a Supreme Court with some divisions,” Bracewell’s Scott Segal told Inside EPA.
“Chief Justice Roberts is, as always, an important bellwether, in part worrying about a flood of copycat municipal lawsuits while probing appropriate state roles,” Segal said. “[T]he court’s progressive wing aggressively pushed a narrative comparing energy production to tobacco and opioid litigation — a false equivalency that ignores the fact that refining and power generation are the literal lifeblood of our economy.”