Big Oil Runs to Trump’s Supreme Court to Escape Climate Lawsuits

Alex (0:00)

Big Oil thinks it should not have to answer for climate change in the courtroom.

Katie Phang (0:03)

Why?

Alex (0:04)

Well, because climate change is too big and too complicated and too global. But if local communities can't sue and the federal government is doing, shall I say jack shit, that's a scientific term, who exactly is supposed to pick up the tab to help answer that question and get inside the dark, dark cobwebby mind of the conservative majority on the Supreme Court? I am joined by the great Katie Phang. It is great to see you, my friend.

Katie Phang (0:30)

It's like a compliment, I guess, if I am able to get into the dark, dark mind, I feel like we're some pot-a-coo, you know?

Alex (0:37)

You're a seer. You can see things that other people can't.

Katie Phang (0:40)

I'm like, what is that? The Eye of Sauron, for most of Sauron, right?

Alex (0:43)

Joining me is the Eye of Sauron, Katie Phang. It's a new intro. We're workshopping it.

Katie Phang (0:50)

Thank you. This is a big case. This is a big deal. This has various far reaching implications.

Alex (0:59)

Boulder V Exxon Mobile SunCore. Is it Boulder V SunCore?

Katie Phang (1:05)

I think it's SunCore.

SPEAKER_4 (1:06)

Yeah.

Katie Phang (1:07)

Exxon took the backseat on this one.

Alex (1:09)

Yeah, even though they're in a big suit. We'll just put a pin in that.

Katie Phang (1:13)

SunCore energy makes it sound so friendly and user nice, like neighborly SunCore energy.

SPEAKER_4 (1:19)

Has nothing to do with the sun.

Katie Phang (1:20)

They're trying to kill us, which they've been trying to kill us for a long time.

Alex (1:24)

Talk to me about what exactly Boulder is trying to do in this case vis-à-vis the oil and gas industry.

Katie Phang (1:29)

Not surprised it's Boulder, Colorado. Beautiful state. A lot of people like to be outdoors, and climate change is real, folks, no matter what this Trump regime wants to tell you, and no matter what fossil fuels wants to tell you, climate change is real.

For those of us that understand it's real, people in Boulder, city and state, we're like, hey, look, we're going to sue SunCore energy, and we're going to sue Exxon because we believe, akin to as Justice Elena Kagan noted during her personal arguments on Monday, this is akin to big tobacco. This is akin to the opioid crisis. These companies know or should have known better that what they're doing is perpetrating harms on people. And when it comes to climate change, fossil fuels, big oil, your DNA and fingerprints are all over this. This is a slam dunk Law and Order episode, if there ever was one. There is no big question of the whodunit. You can just close your eyes and throw a dart and hit them all.

But in particular, these two companies are specifically being sued. And so what happened was this was a state lawsuit. This was not brought in federal court. Boulder sued, the state sued. They're like, hey, look, man, you're impacting us.

And the state court was like, we agree. This was not before Big Oil tried to remove it to federal court because they think federal court is going to be friendlier for them. But it didn't happen. And ultimately, the Colorado Supreme Court said, we actually believe that this lawsuit can proceed because the plaintiffs have standing. You have the ability to get inside the door to the court. Of course, Big Oil loses. And like the Trump administration often does, because footnote, the Trump administration changed its tune for what the Biden administration did on this. The Biden administration was incredibly supportive of what Boulder was trying to do. So the Trump administration, as it is want to do with this Supreme Court, ran to hide behind mommy's skirts and said, help me, save me. And so Big Oil went there. And the Supreme Court said, we'll take you and we'll hang out with you. Now, the most remarkable thing here, Alex, is that Justice Samuel Alito actually recused himself.

Alex (3:32)

OK, wait, I want to get into that. I have a special place in my dark heart for Samuel Alito. And I do want to talk about how and why the justice recused himself.

Katie Phang (3:43)

OK, we'll get into that in a second.

Alex (3:45)

I'll just finish.

Katie Phang (3:46)

In the end, oral arguments happened on Monday.

Boulder says, we should sue, you should respect the Supreme Court's decision from the state of Colorado that we have standing to sue. Big Oil said, federal law preempts these types of state law lawsuits. You can't do this. You can't bring it in state court. Why? Because federal law say that if there's air pollution or water pollution, that it has to be dealt with on a federal level. Now, I want to make sure that this is emphasized and underscored, Alex, because it doesn't speak to the ultimate outcome of the case, really, but it does. Because if you don't have standing and you can't sue, then you can't be able to continue to fight this fight.