Supreme Court asks Justice Department to weigh in on climate lawsuit against oil companies

The Supreme Court Monday asked the Justice Department for its opinion on a case involving lawsuits against oil companies for alleged liabilities for climate change. 

A climate lawsuit, which was filed by the city and county of Honolulu in 2020, is one of many such cases seeking compensation from a dozen oil companies for what the plaintiffs claim are damages suffered as result of climate change. 

The energy companies who are defendants in the Honolulu lawsuit argue the federal Clean Air Act preempts state law, and they’re asking the Supreme Court to clarify if state law can be used to seek damages from the global issue of climate change.

“This case presents the Court with its only foreseeable opportunity in the near future to decide a dispositive question that is arising in every climate-change case: whether federal law precludes state-law claims seeking redress for injuries allegedly caused by the effects of interstate and international greenhouse-gas emissions on the global climate,” the companies said in their petition. 

In 2022, the Supreme Court sought the Justice Department’s position on whether the cases should be heard in state or federal court, and the department backed the plaintiffs’ position that the cases should be heard in state courts. 

Politico reports that the DOJ’s response won’t likely come until the end of the year, meaning a decision from the high court won’t likely come until 2025.