The Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments in the case at the request of the two energy companies named in the lawsuit, Suncor Energy and ExxonMobil. The companies are arguing that such lawsuits should be heard in federal court, not state court. They are challenging a May decision by the Colorado Supreme Court that allowed the 2018 case filed by the city of Boulder and Boulder County to continue in state court.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on the Boulder County case could have implications for dozens of similar lawsuits alleging that oil and gas companies knowingly lied to the public about how their production of fossil fuels contributes to climate change. Governments around the country have sought damages totaling billions of dollars, arguing it’s necessary to help pay for rebuilding after wildfires and severe storms worsened by climate change, along with rising sea levels.
Arguments in the case are expected to begin at 8 a.m. MDT. To watch a livestream of oral arguments, go to supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/live.aspx.
The rally, sponsored by the Colorado Make Polluters Pay Coalition and 350 Boulder County, is set for 9 a.m. at the Boulder County Courthouse, 1325 Pearl St., Boulder.
Rally organizers wrote that they want to support Boulder County residents who have gone through climate disasters “due to the deception and resulting climate damages of oil and gas corporations like (ExxonMobil) and Suncor.” Boulder and Boulder County officials want the two companies to pay for the impacts of climate change, including millions for recovery from extreme weather.
Micah Parkin, 350 Colorado’s executive director, pointed to the 2013 flood — which destroyed 345 homes, damaged 557 others, killed four people and forced the evacuation of more than 1,800 across Boulder County — and the area’s increasingly destructive wildfires, including the Marshall Fire. The 2021 Marshall Fire destroyed more than $2 billion in property, including more than 1,000 homes, and killed two people.
Parkin said the rally is an opportunity for the local community to show support for Boulder and Boulder County in the case. The rally, she added, will be an opportunity for community members who have been directly impacted to share their stories.
“Our community has suffered terribly from the worsening wildfires and floods,” she said. “These companies knew and chose to obfuscate the truth in order to protect profits. We deserve to have our day in court. We shouldn’t have to be shouldering the burdens of these costs alone.”
Muriel Soutiere, a senior at Boulder’s Fairview High, plans to participate in the rally “to bring awareness to this case and push for the Supreme Court to hear the true concerns, health effects, economic suffering and stories of Colorado residents.”
She said her interest in environmental advocacy started with the Marshall Fire, which destroyed the homes of many of her friends. She now runs Sunrise Fairview High, an environmental advocacy group that helped win the Boulder Valley school board’s Green New Deal for Schools adoption. She’s also the policy director for the Good Trouble Climate Network, where she focuses on Colorado legislation.
“It has been so incredibly meaningful to be able to participate in such a wide-scale court case that will not only impact Colorado, but set a precedent that we must hold these oil companies accountable for their negative impacts,” she wrote in an email.
The Denver Post contributed to this story.