With Justice Samuel Alito recused, a 4-4 tie would leave Colorado's high court ruling for Boulder in place but set no national rule.
The Supreme Court opens its term Monday, Oct. 5, with Exxon Mobil and Suncor Energy's bid to end a climate-damage suit that Boulder, Colo., filed in state court in 2018. Justice Samuel Alito is recused, so eight justices will decide it.
The suit. The city and county of Boulder bring five state-law claims, seeking damages for extreme heat, bigger and more frequent wildfires, and harm to local ecosystems.
The question. The justices decide only whether federal law bars those claims, not whether they would win. Jonathan Adler, a William & Mary law professor who backs Boulder: "It's a judgment about whether folks get to make their case."
The reach. The ruling could decide dozens of similar suits, including California's 2023 suit against the five largest oil companies.
Still open. The Court also asked both sides whether it has jurisdiction to review the Colorado ruling at all. A dismissal on that ground would settle nothing nationally.
Catch up
On Sept. 28, the Court's clerk told lawyers that Justice Samuel Alito would sit out the case, without giving a reason; his 2025 disclosure lists stock in ConocoPhillips and Phillips 66, not Exxon or Suncor. Alito, 76, then said in a CBS interview that he weighed retiring after last term and will reconsider every year.
What the climate suits demand from the oil companies
- Boulder pleads no total; it asks the companies to pay "their share" of past and future costs, with triple damages possible under Colorado consumer law
- Boulder's own estimate: more than $100 million in climate costs by 2050 across Boulder, Boulder County and San Miguel County
- Multnomah County, Ore., asks the most: at least $50 billion for a cleanup fund plus at least $1.5 billion in future damages; California's 2023 suit names no dollar figure