Per Reuters:
“The U.S. Supreme Court rejected on Monday a bid by 19 Republican-led states led by Alabama to block five Democratic-led states from pursuing lawsuits accusing major oil companies of deceiving the public about the role fossil fuels have played in causing climate change…
Justice Clarence Thomas, in a dissenting opinion, opens new tab joined by fellow conservative Justice Samuel Alito, said the court lacked any persuasive justification “to reject a suit involving nearly half the states in the nation, which alleges serious constitutional violations.”
While nearly all the cases heard by the Supreme Court are appeals of rulings by lower courts, the top U.S. judicial body has “original jurisdiction” in a small set pitting states against states. Thomas called the court’s frequent pattern of declining to hear such state-versus-state cases troubling…
The 2024 litigation led by Republican Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall was joined by his counterparts in Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.
They argued that by suing major energy companies in state courts and seeking damages for the harms of climate change, the Democratic-led states were unlawfully trying to regulate global emissions and the U.S. energy system.”