SCOTUS to Grapple With Climate’s Costs
In the Suncor v. Boulder argument today, the Supreme Court will consider how state and local governments can get fossil fuel companies to pay for the damage they have caused.
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court returns from recess today to take up Suncor v. Boulder, a case that could shape the ability of local governments to seek compensation from fossil fuel companies for the widening toll of storms, droughts and other disasters made worse by climate change.
NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) filed an amicus brief in the case, highlighting the strength of climate attribution science.
Matthew Tejada, Senior Vice President for Environmental Health at NRDC, made the following statement:
“Coal, oil and gas companies have made trillions of dollars in profits from the sale of fuels that are driving the climate crisis. They have knowingly misled the public for decades. They lobbied to derail or delay action to confront climate hazard and harm, abetted by a Trump administration hellbent on locking future generations into decades more dependence on destructive fuels.
“Now a staggering bill is coming due. The industry and the administration have responded with a callous shrug: not our problem. The nation has the right to demand better than that – from its corporate sector and from its own government.
“The fossil fuel industry has a responsibility to help pay for the damage its products have caused. And the administration has a duty to protect the people it purports to serve against the rising costs and mounting dangers of the widening climate crisis.”
NRDC is tracking every step of the Trump administration's attacks on public health and the environment. Go to White House Watch for the comprehensive list of these attacks.
Established in 1970, NRDC (the Natural Resources Defense Council) works to safeguard the earth, its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends. Our team of more than 800 lawyers, policy experts, scientists, economists, and communications specialists work across the United States and around the world, from offices in Washington D.C., New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, and Santa Monica, as well as a representative office in Beijing and affiliate offices in New Delhi (through NRDC’s wholly owned for-profit subsidiary, NRDC India Private Limited) and London (through its UK-based partner NRDC International).