Supreme Court Declines to Hear Oil Industry Climate Case, Opening Door to Green Activist Lawsuits
The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear two major legal challenges to a wave of climate lawsuits targeting oil companies — a move that critics say gives radical environmental activists the green light to weaponize the courts against America's energy industry.
The cases, brought forward by energy-producing states, oil giants, and industry organizations, aimed to stop state and local governments from demanding billions in damages from fossil fuel producers over alleged contributions to climate change. With the Court’s denial, those lawsuits are now set to move forward.
Many warn that the real agenda behind these lawsuits is not climate accountability but forcing anti-fossil fuel policies onto the nation without congressional approval — policies that would hit American consumers hard.
“Consumers are not helped by these cases, which seek to wipe products from store shelves and funnel money to left-wing causes,” said O.H. Skinner, executive director of the Alliance for Consumers, a nonprofit watchdog. “Here is hoping the targets of these lawsuits continue to fight these cases, as they have consistently prevailed in the final stages of review, and that is the only way for consumers not to be sacrificed before the left-wing onslaught here.”
The Alliance for Consumers previously released a report exposing how liberal dark money networks are bankrolling these lawsuits, an effort intended to bypass democratic accountability and impose environmental regulations through judicial activism. These findings were supported by several independent studies.
In an interview with Just the News last December, Skinner noted that if these lawsuits succeed, they could force energy companies to halt production or pour money into emission-reduction methods — costs that would inevitably fall on everyday Americans.
He warned that the lawsuits effectively resurrect the failed Green New Deal, not through legislation, but by judicial decree.
And it’s not just the oil industry on the chopping block. Legal analysts expect this strategy will eventually target every major emitter — from automakers to steel producers to electric utilities.
The American Enterprise Institute also raised concerns about the implications of the Court’s inaction. Senior Fellow Adam White stated, “I hope that the Court will hear the issue someday, for the sake of constitutional accountability and the public interest.”
In a separate but related effort, a coalition of 19 Republican-led states, spearheaded by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, filed a constitutional challenge in May to counter similar climate lawsuits launched by California, Connecticut, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Rhode Island.
Critics have also questioned the Biden-Harris administration’s legal stance on the issue. O.H. Skinner pointed out that Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar’s arguments against the Supreme Court review diverged from the traditional role of defending federal authority in cases where local lawsuits interfere with national regulatory powers — such as the EPA’s jurisdiction over emissions.
“It looks like they’re motivated by allegiance to the dark money backers behind these cases,” Skinner said.
One law firm at the center of this legal offensive, San Francisco-based Sher Edling, has been linked to wealthy progressive donors. Last year, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability opened an investigation into the firm’s financial backers, calling attention to the role of “wealthy liberals” in pushing lawsuits that could cripple American energy producers.
While Sher Edling denies that its intent is to bankrupt companies, claiming their goal is to recover damages related to alleged corporate deception, critics say the outcome speaks for itself. The lawsuits, if successful, would deal a devastating blow to domestic oil and gas firms — a blow that would ultimately be felt by American workers and consumers.
With President Donald Trump back in the White House and Republican majorities in Congress poised to act, a major shift in environmental and energy policy is expected. The Trump administration has signaled its intent to end the legal harassment of American energy companies and restore constitutional oversight to prevent unelected activists from dictating national policy through the courts.