"Supreme Court nixes challenge to state climate suits against oil firms", 10 March 2025.

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected on Monday a bid by 19 Republican-led states ... to block five Democratic-led states from pursuing lawsuits accusing major oil companies of deceiving the public about the role fossil fuels have played in causing climate change.

The justices declined to hear a case that was filed directly with the Supreme Court by Republican state attorneys general that took aim at cases filed in various state courts against companies including Exxon Mobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Shell and BP. Those lawsuits were filed by California, Connecticut, Minnesota, New Jersey and Rhode Island...

The suits by the Democratic-led states, seeking monetary damages, generally accused the energy companies of creating a public nuisance or violating state laws by concealing from the public for decades the fact that burning fossil fuels would lead to climate change. The companies denied wrongdoing.

The 2024 litigation led by Republican Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall was joined by his counterparts in Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.

They argued that by suing major energy companies in state courts and seeking damages for the harms of climate change, the Democratic-led states were unlawfully trying to regulate global emissions and the U.S. energy system...

The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, has rejected several attempts by the oil companies themselves to dismiss various climate change cases by state and local governments or move them to federal court...

The Democratic-led states, led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, in a filing called the Republican case against them “meritless” and said it rested on a misunderstanding of their climate change lawsuits...