The Supreme Court sent three climate change cases back to lower courts on Monday after it handed a narrow win to big oil companies last week.
The decisions, released in unsigned orders, vacated previous rulings in cases involving the companies Shell, Suncor, and Chevron.
In all three cases, the court asked appeals courts to reconsider the disputes between oil companies and state and local governments in light of its ruling in a case involving BP, ExxonMobil, as well as other oil companies, and the city of Baltimore.
In that case, the court did not consider the merits of Baltimore’s claims against the oil companies, which involved a long-running dispute over whether energy companies should be forced to contribute to local infrastructure costs related to climate change.
The city in 2018 filed a complaint in the Maryland state courts, but the oil companies tried to make the case a federal issue.
The Supreme Court sided with the oil companies, which had major implications for other energy companies locked in similar battles with state and local governments.
In a 7-1 decision with an opinion written by Justice Neil Gorsuch, the Supreme Court found that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit should have considered more arguments from the oil companies on why the case should be heard in federal court.
The result of that decision came fully into view on Monday.
There are now four cases involving climate change disputes in which the Supreme Court has given oil companies more time to prepare arguments against having to face state courts, where, at least when the cases were raised, they could not rely on the support of the Trump administration.
In recent weeks, the push to keep these disputes out of federal courts has provoked criticism from Democrats.
Nine Democratic senators in May sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland asking him to change the Trump-era stance on the disputes.
The Trump Justice Department had taken the oil companies’ side in the case before the Supreme Court, which was argued just before President Joe Biden took office.
“The fossil fuel industry will continue to undermine justice by using these briefs until the Department reverses the positions it has taken in those lawsuits,” wrote the senators, led by Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal.
Read more at Washington Examiner
The socialists don’t want to bring the end of fossil fuels. They want to own them.
Exactly, SONNYHILL. Germany has driven their energy costs to among the top three most expensive in the world pushing the lie and fraud of a fake climate crisis. Their cost of energy is three times what ours is. And the climate fearmongers would have us follow them. One fifth of Europeans have to choose between heating and eating because of this nonsense. CO2 is a follower in climate, not a cause. CO2 goes up and down with temperature because of temperature variable CO2 solubility. CO2 levels LAG temperatures in eight hundred thousand years of ice core data. CO2 biology is two hundred year old science. All life dies without CO2. And in our starvation level lows, more CO2 is always better. That is called in science, the “CO2 fertilization effect”. It makes the environment greener, stronger, more drought tolerant, and more abundant. And increases our ability to feed the world. All while temperatures remain well within the normal range of the last eight hundred thousand years.
Common Sense over Liberal Eco-Freak Greed and Stupidity
Let’s clarify the level for this article:
“USSC, in a victory for science and the rule of law….”
All better
The other side of this issue is if the courts ruled that oil co’s had to contribute to local (Baltimore) infrastructure costs relating to climate change, it would not take too long for that ruling to go national and the price for gas and diesel would rise accordingly.
Those who voted for the local politicians driving this should take note, because if they end up being successful, everyone will pay considerably more for gasoline and diesel. Who whats that to happen?