They ran to Washington and called it preemption. I know the sentence. It is what a firm says when a county wants a jury to look at what it knew, and the firm would rather a national courtroom decide that no jury anywhere gets to look.
On Monday, October 5, 2026, the Supreme Court opened its new term with Suncor Energy v. County Commissioners of Boulder County, No. 25-170, according to NPR (Carrie Johnson) and Boulder County. Boulder County and the City of Boulder sued Suncor and ExxonMobil in April 2018, alleging the companies and a trade group knew decades ago that fossil fuels would raise the risk of floods, extreme heat and wildfires, and misled the public. The claims are allegations; the case has not gone to trial. Boulder says it wants past and future costs of repairs, emergency services and property damage, not to regulate emissions. In May 2025 the Colorado Supreme Court ruled federal law did not preempt the claims and let them proceed under state law. The companies, per Cornell’s LII bulletin, argue the Constitution’s structure, the Clean Air Act and the federal foreign-affairs power bar state-law claims over interstate and international emissions. The Trump administration sided with the companies, and the Court granted the Solicitor General time to argue. One week before argument, the clerk told the lawyers Justice Samuel Alito would not participate; no reason was given, and watchdog groups had cited his holdings in Phillips 66 and ConocoPhillips. With eight justices, a 4–4 tie leaves the Colorado ruling, and Boulder’s case, standing. The Court also asked whether it even has jurisdiction yet, since the case is still early in state court. NPR quotes Deepak Gupta that the line drawn here could reach forever-chemical pollution, nuisance suits over AI data centers and opioid litigation. Exxon pointed NPR to its filings; Suncor did not respond.
Preemption is the alibi. Immunity is the ask. I still hold the anti-capitalist cut, and hating the assessor did not acquit the crane, or the refinery. A company that says only the federal government may handle climate, then helps keep the federal government from handling it, has not discovered federalism. It has discovered a door with no room behind it. And the state is not the hero just because a county filed the suit: the federal executive showed up at the lectern for the firms, and a justice with an oil portfolio had to step back a week out. I am not recruiting Boulder’s commissioners as saints. I am asking why the people who lost houses in the Marshall Fire have to win a structural-constitution argument before anyone asks what the companies knew.
Taryn will look at the twins’ chair and ask who pays for the next fire if nobody can be asked. Buck will say the hippies had it coming. I love them. They are seasoning. The meal is a firm asking a national court to say no court may hear the facts. Both parties are the help, and the help brought briefs. I am keeping the cardigan. Fill the notebook. Then ask who benefits when the trial is over before it starts.
Sources: NPR, Oct. 5, 2026; Boulder County news release; Cornell LII Supreme Court Bulletin, No. 25-170; SCOTUSblog case page.
— Theo Ashford-Lindström
Leave a Reply