Biden Administration keeps Boulder County climate cases in state courts
Lawsuit against fossil fuel companies ExxonMobil and Suncor was finally seeing some movement, almost 5 years after the original case was filed. The Office of the Solicitor General recommended that the case against the fossil fuel companies proceed in Colorado state court instead of the Supreme Court.
On March 16, 2023, the Biden Administration approved this recommendation and confirmed that the case be held in local courts.
In 2018, San Miguel County, Boulder County and the city of Boulder filed a lawsuit against ExxonMobil and Suncor for their spread of misinformation and contributions to the climate crisis. They requested these companies pay a share of the costs that were created because of the significant climate change impacts in these areas – namely wildfires – so the costs do not fall on taxpayers, who do not bear responsibility for the damages created by increasing climate change.
Wildfires have become a significant issue in Colorado. According to the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control, the largest wildfire by acreage was Cameron Peak in 2020, where 208,913 acres were burned. The most destructive wildfire was the Marshall Fire just one year later in 2021, where 1,084 homes were lost – many of them in the Boulder area.
Although the Marshall fire was over a year ago, the impacts are still apparent today.
With winds up to 100 mph, the fire spread throughout Superior, Louisville, and the greater Boulder area. This fire had multiple ignition points, and the spread was credited to dry and windy temperatures, likely caused by the climate crisis.
The case was at a standstill for years, going back and forth between being a federal and local court case, until March 16, when the Biden Administration decided that this case should stay in local courts. This will be beneficial for the outcome of this case because local state courts are established by the laws of the state and have a broad jurisdiction, while the Supreme Court is established by the U.S. Constitution and has a much narrower jurisdiction.
According to DeSmog, Todd Splinter, a spokesperson for ExxonMobil, issued a statement regarding the decision made by the Biden Administration:
“Lawsuits like this one do nothing but waste time and resources and, more importantly, don’t advance efforts to address climate change. While we’ll fight this, we’ll also continue devoting billions of dollars to meet today’s energy needs while leading the way in a thoughtful energy transition towards net zero carbon,” he said.
Suncor has yet to make a comment.
This case is still pending, but the decision to keep it local gives hope to many that fossil fuel companies will be held accountable for the things they have done to further climate change.
