The Courts Must Reject This Climate Shakedown
The U.S. Supreme Court is considering Suncor v. Boulder, a case that centers on whether local governments can pursue state-law claims seeking damages from oil companies for the global effects of “climate change.”
This week, House Republicans, led by Majority Leader Steve Scalise, are urging the Court to reject efforts by local governments to use state courts to impose large financial penalties on energy producers. These climate lawsuits aim to achieve through litigation what activists have repeatedly failed to accomplish.
Fox News reports,
The GOP lawmakers have characterized Boulder County’s lawsuit as a “dangerous overreach” that could leave major fossil fuel companies on the hook for billions of dollars in alleged damages. A positive ruling for the liberal county would encourage more lawsuits that could threaten the financial viability of the fossil fuel industry, they warn.
“Radical activists are trying to use the courts to accomplish what they couldn’t achieve through legislation — forcing their radical agenda on the American people and driving energy costs even higher,” Scalise said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital. “These lawsuits would hand local activist politicians the power to dictate national energy policy and threaten the energy producers that power our economy.”
That concern is exactly what motivated Rep. Hageman and Senator Cruz’s new legislation. The Stop Climate Shakedowns Act would dismiss ongoing climate lawsuits, block retroactive claims targeting energy producers, and overturn state-level climate superfund laws.
As Rep. Hageman recently explained, many of these lawsuits are simply another vehicle for advancing policies such as carbon taxes and cap-and-trade schemes that lawmakers have rejected. Rather than winning the policy debate, activists are increasingly turning to judges and juries to punish companies that have legally produced the energy Americans rely on every day.
June 4, 2026