Ranchers, conservatives back Boulder in SCOTUS oil case — SkimNews
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- Boulder, Colorado sued Suncor and Exxon Mobil in 2018 for costs of adapting to heat waves, wildfires, and floods, and the Colorado Supreme Court ruled in May 2025 that the case should proceed in state courts.
- Justice Samuel Alito recused himself this week over financial holdings in oil companies, making it harder for Suncor and Exxon to assemble a five-justice majority on a conservative-dominated court.
- Rancher Deirdre Macnab rallied Colorado ranchers to file a brief supporting Boulder after 60 of her neighbor's cows died in last year's fires and ranchers faced bankruptcy from drought-driven feed and water costs.
- Rio Blanco County spent thousands of taxpayer dollars filing an amicus brief siding with the oil companies, prompting Macnab's counter-mobilization among the ranching community.
- A watchdog analysis found that 25 of the 38 amicus briefs filed supporting Exxon and Suncor came from groups with financial ties to the fossil fuel industry or foundations opposing climate science and regulation.
- Conservative legal scholars, including Jonathan Adler of William & Mary Law School and former Republican EPA heads Christine Todd Whitman and William Reilly, argue there is no federal law or constitutional basis to block the suit from moving forward in state court.
- Louisiana coastal parishes are separately suing Chevron and other oil majors for coastal restoration costs, showing that conservative communities beyond Colorado are also pursuing climate accountability claims.
Why it matters: With billions in potential damages at stake and Alito's recusal narrowing the oil companies' path to a majority, Monday's arguments will decide whether dozens of similar climate suits nationwide can reach trial — or whether oil companies succeed in killing them in state court before any evidence is heard.
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