By John Kruzel
WASHINGTON, Sept 28 (Reuters) – US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito will not participate in an upcoming case involving a bid by oil companies to scuttle a lawsuit seeking to hold them liable for helping fuel climate change, a court official said on Monday.
Alito owns stock in several oil and gas companies but not Exxon Mobil and Suncor Energy, the two companies involved in the dispute to be heard by the court on October 5. He had initially declined calls from watchdog and environmental groups to recuse. Alito stepped aside when the litigation reached the court at an earlier stage in 2023.
Alito is one of the most conservative justices on the court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority.
Lawyers for the oil companies and those representing officials in Boulder, Colorado, who sued Exxon and Suncor in 2018, were informed on Monday of Alito’s recusal in a letter from Scott Harris, clerk of the Supreme Court.
Harris did not provide a rationale, stating only, “I am writing to inform the parties that Justice Alito has determined that he will not continue to participate in this case.”
The dispute, which will be heard on the first day of the court’s new term, could determine the fate of dozens of state and local climate-related lawsuits against fossil fuel companies.
According to his most recent financial disclosure, Alito’s holdings include stock in ConocoPhillips and Phillips 66, which are defendants in separate but similar climate-related lawsuits.
The upcoming Supreme Court case involves whether federal law precludes certain claims under state law seeking damages for harms allegedly caused by the effects of greenhouse gas emissions. The justices also directed the parties to address whether the court has jurisdiction to decide the case at this stage.
President Donald Trump’s administration has backed Exxon and Suncor, arguing that federal law precludes Boulder’s claims.
(Reporting by John Kruzel; Editing by Will Dunham)
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