Solicitor General recommends lawsuit stays in state court

The Office of the Solicitor General this week recommended the U.S. Supreme Court to reject Exxon Mobil and Suncor’s petition to move a Boulder climate lawsuit from state court to federal court.

The city of Boulder, alongside Boulder and San Miguel counties, sued the two companies in Boulder District Court in April 2018, claiming the companies are responsible for “billions of tons of the excess greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere” and that they should be financially liable.

Suncor and Exxon in June petitioned to have the case heard in federal court, arguing the federal courts should determine energy policy and that there should be a consistent approach because the ways energy is used and sourced is a fundamental societal question.

The petition followed a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit decided that the case belonged in state court.

In October, according to a Boulder County news release, the Supreme Court requested the views of the U.S. government on whether the Supreme Court should hear the case and how it should ultimately decide the questions presented. The Office of the Solicitor General then issued its recommendation this week.

“Since the Colorado communities filed this case in 2018, Exxon Mobil and Suncor have consistently sought to delay the litigation — moving the case from court to court and losing each step along the way,” Earthrights General Counsel Marco Simons said in a written statement. “(This) development brings these communities one step closer to holding fossil fuel companies accountable for their misconduct and obtaining remedies for the serious climate harms Colorado residents are facing.”

According to court documents, the plaintiffs are not trying to enjoin oil and gas operations or sales, to enforce emissions controls or to seek damages or abatement relief for injuries occurring on federal lands. Instead, the city of Boulder and Boulder and San Miguel counties are seeking monetary damages to help offset the impacts of climate change.