The Biden administration argued on Wednesday that the Supreme Court should not intervene in an ongoing legal attack on energy companies across the country, dealing a blow to energy producers, but legal experts said the recent filing won't really stop the Trump administration from taking a different approach. [emphasis, links added]
Deputy Attorney General Elizabeth Preloga wrote in Wednesday's filing Biden administration believes it would be inappropriate for Supreme Court to intervene in state or city lawsuits against energy producers Trying to get these companies to pay billions of dollars to compensate for their alleged role in causing climate change.
Legal experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation that while the outgoing Biden administration supports Democratic jurisdictions in bringing these lawsuits, Preloga's documents will not hinder the Trump administration.
Specifically, A brief urges the Supreme Court to reject oil companies' appeals of the Hawaii Supreme Court's decision to allow the city of Honolulu to sue the companieswhile the other Calls on the Supreme Court to block legal action by 19 red states to prevent Democratic-controlled jurisdictions from going after energy producers In a similar way.
In its final days, the Biden administration has said it wants to see the cases resolved, but President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to block what he calls ” “A wave of frivolous lawsuits from environmental extremists” According to E&E News.
“I doubt the Biden document will have any impact. The Trump administration may withdraw the bill and file its own brief,” Steve Milloy, senior legal fellow at the Energy and Environmental Law Institute, told DCNF
“Federal courts should ban these lawsuits because climate is an inherently political issue that should be resolved by elected officials versus the courts.”
Critics of the climate litigation trend, such as Milloy, argue that Democrats are essentially using lawsuits to impose their political agenda on energy companies, something that the Legislature cannot actually do. Different rulings on cases brought by different states could lead to a patchwork of regulatory frameworks that undermine energy production and federalism.
To prevent a disjointed regulatory environment, Supporters of the Supreme Court intervention argue that the court should step in and rule to resolve the national question of whether energy companies can be held accountable for climate change through the judicial branch.
OH Skinner, attorney and executive director of Consumers Union, noted 'It's not surprising to see the Biden Justice Department siding with Supreme Court trial lawyers' Given these documents Trial lawyers are a major source of “political funding” for the Democratic Party.
Devin Watkins, an attorney at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said he doubted the latest filing would be a significant impediment to the incoming Trump administration.
“If the matter is still before the courts when the new government takes office, then the new government can notify the court that their position has changed. But my guess is that the case will not come before the courts at that time. I suspect the Supreme Court will probably throw out the case,” Watkins said, referring to a brief from 19 red states seeking to prevent Democratic-controlled jurisdictions from suing energy producers.
However, Watkins said he believed it was The Supreme Court is likely to eventually intervene in climate cases currently pending in lower courts across the U.S.
Read the break from The Daily Caller
