Don’t blame the energy companies or data centers if your utilities go up

By Jim Thompson
HCP columnist

The Supreme Court heard arguments on Monday, Oct. 5 in Suncor v. County Commissioners of Boulder County (Colorado).  

Boulder County sued ExxonMobil and Suncor in 2018 alleging they:

• Produced and sold enormous quantities of fossil fuels. 

• Knew for decades that burning those fuels would contribute to climate change. 

• Misled the public about those risks. 

• Contributed to climate-related harms such as wildfires, extreme heat, drought and other damage. 

Therefore they should help pay the costs Boulder and its taxpayers incur dealing with those consequences.

The oil companies argue that climate change and greenhouse-gas emissions are matters of federal and international policy, not something that 90,000 individual municipalities can regulate through lawsuits.

One interesting side note: Judge Alito has recused himself because he owns some oil stocks.  This means that if a 4-4 verdict comes down, Boulder wins.  

If this happens, this will open up nearly 60 state and local governments’ suits pursuing the same arguments.

Endless environmental advocacy groups are on the Boulder bandwagon (including Brady and Giffords Law Center because they want to use a finding favorable to Boulder to file massive gun control suits) – they expect to find a way to receive part of the winnings should Boulder (and then other similar suits) prevail.

The Court doesn't necessarily have to decide whether oil companies caused climate change.

It could simply decide: "Whatever the merits of Boulder's allegations, federal law prevents Boulder from bringing this particular kind of state law lawsuit."

That would be an enormous victory for the oil companies without the Court having to decide the underlying scientific or factual questions.

Conversely, the Court could say: "These are traditional state-law claims. Federal law doesn't automatically wipe them out. Let the Colorado courts decide whether Boulder can prove them."

That would allow the lawsuit – and potentially dozens of similar lawsuits – to continue.

What does this mean for you living in Highland County, Ohio? If Boulder prevails and other municipalities pursue and prevail all over the country, one source I read predicts our electricity bills will rise by $1,500 per year per household. And then there is the gun control aspect.

Jim Thompson, formerly of Marshall, is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and the University of Cincinnati. He resides in Duluth, Ga. and is a columnist for The Highland County Press.