{"id":2572656,"date":"2026-02-23T14:39:01","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T19:39:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/scotus-takes-up-oil-companies-challenge-to-colorado-citys-climate-lawfare\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T14:43:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T19:43:11","slug":"scotus-takes-up-oil-companies-challenge-to-colorado-citys-climate-lawfare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/scotus-takes-up-oil-companies-challenge-to-colorado-citys-climate-lawfare\/","title":{"rendered":"SCOTUS Takes Up Challenge To Colorado City&#8217;s Climate Lawfare"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fscotus-takes-up-oil-companies-challenge-to-colorado-citys-climate-lawfare%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2572656&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article reports that the U.S. Supreme court has agreed to hear a high-profile climate-liability case, Suncor Energy, Inc. v. County Commissioners of Boulder County. The dispute, originally brought by the city of Boulder and Boulder County against Exxon Mobil and three Suncor units, alleges that fossil-fuel activities contributed to climate change and harmed Boulder\u2019s property and residents, seeking damages for public and private nuisance, trespass, unjust enrichment, and civil conspiracy. Lower courts had rejected attempts to move the case to federal court and allowed the colorado case to proceed, finding no federal preemption by laws such as the Clean Air Act. In May 2025 the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the claims were not preempted and could move forward, a decision that led Exxon and Suncor to petition the Supreme Court in August 2025.The petitions ask whether federal law precludes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/state-supreme-court-rules-school-cannot-be-sued-for-giving-child-a-covid-vaccine-without-parental-consent\/\" title=\"... ... Rules School Cannot Be Sued for Giving Child a COVID Vaccine Without Parental Consent\">state-law claims<\/a> seeking damages for injuries allegedly caused by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/goldman-sachs-commits-to-reach-net-zero-carbon-emissions-by-2030\/\" title=\"Goldman Sachs Commits To Reach Net-Zero Carbon Emissions By 2030\">greenhouse-gas emissions<\/a>.The Court granted review to address this question and also requested briefs on its jurisdiction, though no oral-argument date has been set. The piece frames the case as part of a broader strategy described as \u201cclimate lawfare\u201d against fossil-fuel companies,and it notes related commentary from commentators like John Yoo. the author of the piece is Shawn fleetwood of The Federalist.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to take up a major case on Monday involving the left&rsquo;s ongoing climate lawfare against fossil fuel companies. <\/p>\n<p>In its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/orders\/courtorders\/022326zor_7758.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">newest order list<\/a>, the high court announced that it will be hearing oral arguments in <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/docket\/docketfiles\/html\/public\/25-170.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Suncor Energy, Inc. v. County Commissioners of Boulder County<\/a><\/em>, which centers around a lawsuit originally brought by the city of Boulder and Boulder County commissioners against the Exxon Mobil Corporation and three Suncor Energy businesses.<\/p>\n<p>As summarized by <a href=\"https:\/\/law.justia.com\/cases\/colorado\/supreme-court\/2025\/24sa206.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Justia<\/a>, Boulder officials alleged that these entities&rsquo; &ldquo;fossil fuel activities contributed to climate change, causing harm to Boulder&rsquo;s property and residents.&rdquo; They additionally &ldquo;sought damages for public and private nuisance, trespass, unjust enrichment, and civil conspiracy, claiming that the [companies] knowingly contributed to climate change while misleading the public about its impacts.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The oil giants&rsquo; repeated attempts to have the case moved to federal court were rejected by a federal district court and the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. The Boulder County District Court also dismissed the companies&rsquo; request to dismiss the case, &ldquo;rejecting their arguments that Boulder&rsquo;s claims were preempted by federal law, including the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/crs-product\/RL30853\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Clean Air Act (CAA)<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jordan-peterson-slams-covid-tyranny-fing-leave-me-alone\/\" title=\"Jordan Peterson Slams COVID Tyranny: \u2018F***ing Leave Me Alone\u2019\">federal common law<\/a>,&rdquo; according to Justia. <\/p>\n<p>While declining to address the merits of Boulder&rsquo;s claims, the Colorado Supreme Court sided with the city in May 2025 by agreeing that its claims &ldquo;were not preempted by federal law.&rdquo; The court also permitted Boulder&rsquo;s lawsuit against the energy companies to move forward. <\/p>\n<p>In an October 2025 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/opinion\/supreme-court-must-freeze-climate-extortion-our-energy-industry\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Fox News column<\/a>, law professor and American Enterprise Institute nonresident senior fellow John Yoo noted that the <em>Suncor Energy<\/em> case is an example of how &ldquo;environmental extremists have now allied with bankrupt cities and trial lawyers to use the courts to shake down the energy industry.&rdquo; Under this strategy, Yoo described, &ldquo;Blue cities and states have filed tort suits in state courts to extract money for allegedly causing weather-related costs in their jurisdictions.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Notwithstanding some recent wins,&nbsp;climate lawfare&nbsp;is like Hydra &mdash; new cases are constantly being brought. Even if higher courts ultimately overturn them, simply forcing the industry to defend against these suits imposes enormous litigation costs,&rdquo; Yoo wrote. &ldquo;That alone is a victory for environmental radicals. At this stage, the Supreme Court must act to reaffirm federal authority over national energy and environmental policy.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The Colorado Supreme Court&rsquo;s decision to allow Boulder&rsquo;s lawfare to continue prompted the oil giants to file a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/DocketPDF\/25\/25-170\/369227\/20250808130855966_Suncor_pet.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">petition<\/a> asking SCOTUS to take up the case in August 2025. Exxon and the Suncor companies specifically requested the justices to address the question of whether &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >federal law precludes state-law claims seeking relief<\/a> for injuries allegedly caused by the effects of interstate and international greenhouse-gas emissions on the global climate.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Energy companies that produce and sell fossil fuels are facing numerous lawsuits in state courts across the Nation seeking billions of dollars in damages for injuries allegedly caused by the contribution of greenhouse-gas emissions to global climate change. But as the Court has recognized for over a century, the structure of our constitutional system does not permit a State to provide relief under state law for injuries allegedly caused by pollution emanating from outside the State,&rdquo; the companies&rsquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/DocketPDF\/25\/25-170\/369227\/20250808130855966_Suncor_pet.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">petition<\/a> reads. &ldquo;This case presents the question whether that longstanding principle precludes the state-law claims in the nationwide climate-change litigation. The answer to that question is surely yes.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/DocketPDF\/25\/25-170\/384126\/20251110174050279_25-170%20Brief%20in%20Opposition.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">response brief<\/a>, Boulder officials urged the high court to permit their lawsuit to move forward. They argued that &ldquo;granting interlocutory review would require the Court to wade into a thicket of preliminary questions that promise nothing but rabbit holes and dead ends.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>While agreeing to address the question presented by the oil companies in its Monday order, the Supreme Court also asked both parties to file briefs answering the question of whether it &ldquo;has statutory and Article III jurisdiction to hear this case.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>A date for oral arguments in the case has not been announced. <\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He is a co-recipient of the 2025 Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics and RealClearHealth. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SCOTUS to hear climate-case: Suncor v. Boulder<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2572657,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Exxon.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546,33651],"tags":[74378,6024,74380,74379,6994],"class_list":["post-2572656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","category-the-western-journal","tag-climate-lawfare-2","tag-colorado","tag-environmental-policy-2","tag-legal-challenge-2","tag-scotus"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Exxon.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2572656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2572656"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2572656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2572660,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2572656\/revisions\/2572660"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2572657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2572656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2572656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2572656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}