The Supreme Court is asking the Biden administration for its opinion on whether the justices should greenlight an effort by Republican state attorneys general to block their Democratic colleagues from suing the fossil fuel industry.
In an order issued Monday, the court invited Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar to file a brief “expressing the views of the United States” in a dispute between red and blue states over lawsuits that seek to hold oil and gas companies liable for intensifying storms, rising tides and other disasters fueled by global warming.
Led by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, 19 Republican-led states argue that the climate liability lawsuits pursued by five of their peers are an illegal effort to “dictate interstate energy policy” and would boost the price of gas for their residents.
Cities, counties and states have launched more than two dozen climate liability cases nationwide that — if they are successful — could put oil and gas companies on the hook for billions of dollars. The suits mostly allege that oil companies knowingly misled consumers about the dangers of burning fossil fuels.
