The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Justice Department to weigh in on whether the climate change lawsuits filed by California and two dozen other cities and states should be blocked. At issue is whether greenhouse gas emissions are a matter controlled only by federal law, or if states can play a role. The oil and gas industries had urged the high court to take up the issue now and to rule that federal law preempts or overrides state claims seeking damages for the impact of a hotter climate.
Rob Bonta said the state was suing the five largest oil and gas companies — Exxon Mobil, Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and BP — and the American Petroleum Institute for what they described as a “decades-long campaign of deception” that created climate-related harms in California. The suit was filed in superior court in San Francisco. Monday's order noted that Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.