The Supreme Court, and its carefully manufactured conservative majority, began its regular season by completely baffling itself. On Monday, the court heard oral arguments in the case of Suncor Energy Inc. v. County Commissioners of Boulder County, an important case regarding whether local governments can sue large oil companies for the damage they are doing to the climate.
The legal arcana involved the ability of local governments to bring tort claims against entities not located within their jurisdiction. That was tough sledding enough. From The New York Times: An interesting possibility, since the court’s three liberal justices seemed solidly behind Boulder’s case.
But despite Roberts’s skepticism, the members of the CMCM seemed more concerned with the possibility that ruling for Boulder would open the floodgates. The fundamental argument raised by the energy companies—and by their ally, the administration—is that the climate crisis is a national problem and, therefore, requires federal solutions. Of course, this particular federal government thinks the whole thing is a hoax, so no action gets taken and Drill, Baby, Drill.
The pea is under one of the shells.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
