Supreme Court weighs local governments' climate change lawsuits against oil and gas companies

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court grappled Monday with whether local governments can sue oil and gas companies to help cover costs associated with climate change, an issue with potentially billions of dollars at stake. “How do you think that will work out on the ground?”A win for the oil and gas companies at the Supreme Court could shut down dozens of similar cases.Suncor and Exxon argue that the Clean Air Act gives the federal government – not the states – the power to regulate emissions.They have the support of the Trump administration, which argues the lawsuits are an unconstitutional attempt to regulate planet-warming emissions and impose Colorado’s state law beyond its borders.But Roberts and other justices raised skeptical questions about why they should bar civil lawsuits in state courts now. The court is also weighing a jurisdictional question that allows it an “off-ramp" to avoid deciding the issues now.The case was heard without Justice Samuel Alito, who recused himself just a week before arguments after facing calls to step aside because he owns stock in oil companies.

That raises the possibility of a tie vote, which would allow the Colorado case to proceed.The companies asked the justices to reverse a decision from Colorado’s highest court allowing the case to proceed. Attorney Kannon Shanmugam, representing the industry, said the Boulder case was attempting to use the courts to decide a public policy issue that is properly up to Congress and other elected officials.“Climate change is certainly one of the most pressing issues” facing the country, …