Well color me surprised. The city and county of Honolulu face hundreds of millions of dollars to address the problems caused by climate change. They allege “dirty energy” caused by the oil industry is to blame, AND that Big Oil broke state laws over the years lying about their role and misleading the public. So they went to court to get financial relief. Big Oil of course played the “What? Us? We didn’t know” nonsense in trying to get the lawsuit dismissed and when that didn’t work they ran to federal court. Eventually they knew they could push their “Interstate Commerce” argument all the way up to SCOTUS and they of course had the resources to push things that far. Given the makeup of SCOTUS one would assume the Supreme Court would bend over backwards to suck up to Trump by protecting ‘Big Oil’ and the ‘dirty/fossil fuel’ industry. However SCOTUS has sent them packing in what could be a landmark decision. They ruled the whole matter can proceed in state court. Trump is all busy with tripping over his too-long ties bumbling his trade wars and country grabbing so I guess he didn’t notice what was going on.
Well, color me surprised. The good guys have won, sort of a key environment battle according to this article from The Cool Down. I say ‘sort of’ because the plaintiffs haven’t actually won their lawsuit, only the right to fight it out in court. However I gather they’d got Hawaii state law on their side as the State Supreme Court there has ruled in their favor. That’s why the defendants went running to federal court in the first place, using interstate commerce as their justification for doing so. So let’s look at what’s transpired, where things stand and where they are headed. Five years ago out in Hawaii the county and city of Honolulu joined forces with the Honolulu Board of Water Supply. They filed a lawsuit against Sunoco, Shell and fifteen other energy companies for infringements of state law:
They charged Big Oil with creating a public nuisance and failing to warn the public of the risks posed by its products. In 2023, the Supreme Court of Hawai’i ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, allowing the litigation to proceed.
However, the decision was quickly petitioned by the accused oil companies. In an attempt to block the lawsuit, the defendants sought to bring the case in front of federal judges, arguing that state courts cannot rule on interstate affairs.
I’ll admit to not having closely followed this but I think it’s worth paying attention to as this year goes on. I recall somewhere reading this is the fourth decision since 2023 where SCOTUS has refused to get involved in this type of litigation. That’s why it matters. The Roberts’ Court keeps saying “Nope, take that s**t back to state court where it belongs.” That’s why the linked article says this is a ‘landmark’ ruling. I guess with even three strikes Roberts wanted to make a point by issuing a FOURTH.
Climate change is real. As Neil deGrasse Tyson once said “The thing about science is that it’s true whether you believe it or not.” Climate change as we know is costing communities, states and the federal government ever increasing amounts of money. We also know it’s gotten to the point it is because of a decades long campaign by the fossil fuel industry to mislead the public. Leaving aside cleanup from increasingly violent weather events, power grids are increasingly being overwhelmed and sea levels are rising. Dealing with that costs money and lots of it. In Honolulu they can point to hundred of millions of dollars it will take to address what Big Oil has wrought so they went to court.
The fossil fuel industry keeps striking out in federal court in trying to use Interstate Commerce to avoid liability at the state level. AND they keep pushing things to SCOTUS which keeps rebuffing them. So put a pin in this. I have no doubt that at some point Trump will huff and puff and threaten to blow everyone’s house down with a batch of Executive Orders. Still, it seems clear SCOTUS doesn’t want the federal courts involved in some major company (be it oil, gas or coal or something else) that does business in a given state being able to run to federal court crying “Interstate Commerce” when they violate a given state’s laws.
This could turn out to be a very big deal indeed in the years ahead.
********** And now, a message from Ursula I hope you take to heart **********
Friends, I am forced to self-promote and ask you for money. We had a bad year compared with 2023 and the end of the year has been catastrophic. Traffic died on November 5. We are a small blog and completely self-supporting by ad revenue, donations, and subscriptions. If you can afford a monthly subscription that would help us out. If you can make a small donation, likewise. Our only goal is to stay in business and give you the best content we can generate. You are the wind beneath our wings. Thank you. Ursula
