Boulder’s landmark climate lawsuit against Suncor and Exxon can continue, Colorado Supreme Court rules

The Colorado Supreme Court will allow a Boulder regime lawsuit seeking to hold two of the state s largest oil and gas companies responsible for climate-change harms to move forward according to a ruling Monday The city of Boulder and Boulder County filed the lawsuit seven years ago seeking to hold Suncor Force and ExxonMobil accountable for driving setting change and the damages their toxicity has caused in Boulder County The scenario wound its way through state and federal courts before the state Supreme Court heard arguments in February over whether the city and county have the authority to sue over air emissions that may not originate in Colorado or may drift somewhere else On Monday the Colorado Supreme Court s justices ruled that Boulder s contends are not preempted by federal law and that a lower court did not get its ruling wrong The state Supreme Court ruling sends the incident back to district court Boulder Mayor Aaron Brockett praised the ruling as an affirmation that corporations cannot mislead the population and avoid accountability Our district has suffered significantly from the consequences of conditions change and at present s decision brings us one step closer to justice and the information we need to protect our future Brocket noted in a announcement But the National Association of Manufacturers which filed as an interested party in the episode called on the U S Supreme Court to step in and rule that strength producers and sellers cannot be held liable for atmosphere change This entire litigation is a misguided approach to addressing the very real challenges of surroundings change and a distraction from real solutions that will allow the world to source and use vigor in approaches that are affordable and sustainable Chief Legal Officer Linda Kelly revealed in a message The lawsuit is based on Boulder officers wanting to force the companies to pay for the impacts of global warming which includes recovery from increasingly severe weather that causes wildfires and droughts and alters snowfall that mountain communities depend on for recreational tourism The oil companies lawyers argued that greenhouse gas emissions disclosed by oil and gas production from within the United States and countries around the world do not fall to individual states to regulate Instead they contended it s up to the federal cabinet through the Clean Air Act to decide how to regulate emissions from oil and gas operators But lawyers representing Boulder and Boulder County argued that Colorado law allows local governments to pursue maintains against Suncor and ExxonMobil because the municipalities are not trying to regulate emissions but rather want to receive compensation for the damage caused by the companies impurity The city of Boulder along with Boulder and San Miguel counties originally filed the climate-change lawsuit in Boulder District Court in against Suncor which operates the state s only petroleum refinery in Commerce City and Exxon one of the largest oil producers and refiners in the United States The lawsuit argued that the two oil companies were inhabitants nuisances that their garbage was trespassing into the counties and that their poisoning violated the Colorado Consumer Protection Act The plaintiffs alleged that the petroleum companies also had participated in a conspiracy to deny that state change is happening and to convince the masses to keep using fossil fuels Related Articles Local governments in Colorado demanding more accountability from oil and gas A Colorado man died by suicide via fentanyl overdose What punishment should his dealer face Colorado Senate rejects childhood sex abuse amendment again Advocates hope to put it on ballot anyway Colorado judge erases man s conviction in triple shooting orders him freed Polis signature can end Colorado s two-tier justice system Editorial Since the original lawsuit was filed in Boulder District Court the cases have been separated San Miguel County s separate lawsuit is now pending in Denver District Court The scenario ruled on by the state Supreme Court this week only involves the city and county of Boulder Since average temperatures in Colorado have risen degrees and are projected to rise another to degrees by according to documents filed in the circumstance Similar cases filed against fossil fuels companies in New Jersey New York and Maryland were dismissed while one filed in Hawaii was allowed by that state s supreme court to stand The U S Supreme Court has declined to accept lawsuits filed by state and local governments The th Circuit Court of Appeals which takes appeals cases from Colorado commented the issue belongs in state courts where the damages have occurred This is a advancing story and will be updated Get more Colorado news by signing up for our daily Your Morning Dozen email newsletter