The United States Supreme Court on February 23 approved requests from two oil companies to review a decision made by the Colorado Supreme Court last year. The ruling allows Boulder County and other areas to continue climate responsibility lawsuits against oil companies.
On February 23, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review a relevant decision made by the Colorado Supreme Court last year at the request of ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy. These two oil companies have been accused of misleading the public and concealing the harm their products cause to the climate. The decision permits Boulder City and Boulder County to proceed with climate responsibility lawsuits against the oil companies.
According to information released by the Boulder County government’s official website, the lawsuit began in April 2018 with the aim of holding oil companies accountable. Colorado is one of the fastest-warming states and continues to suffer damages related to rising temperatures. Boulder City and Boulder County face significant and escalating costs in response to the impacts of climate change. The lawsuit seeks to ensure that businesses responsible for the damages bear a fair share of the responsibility rather than shifting the burden to the Colorado community.
In May 2025, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that federal law did not preclude Boulder’s claims, allowing the claims to proceed under state law. The Boulder County government believes that the oil companies’ assertion of federal law in their request to the U.S. Supreme Court is an attempt to evade the relevant responsibilities within the state.
Lawyers for ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy wrote in their request for the Supreme Court justices to hear the case, stating, “Boulder County, Colorado, should not be setting energy policy for the entire country.
“The court should take the case and clarify that state law cannot impose the costs of global climate change on a subset of global energy producers selected by a single municipal authority.”
At the same time, the oil companies argued in their filing to the Supreme Court that regulating interstate pollution “is fundamentally a matter for the federal domain and must be governed by federal law.”
The Center for Climate Integrity stated on its website, “Since 2023, the justices have rejected five requests from major oil companies or their political allies to hear suits against these companies, including last year in Hawaii, where Justice Alito recused himself in a nearly identical suit.
“As more cases approach trial, the fossil fuel industry has been lobbying Congress to seek legal protections to avoid climate responsibility in court. In January of this year, the American Petroleum Institute announced that blocking states from filing climate lawsuits is the top priority for the oil lobbying group in 2026.”