The Colorado Supreme Court was the site of intense arguments today as Boulder County and the City of Boulder presented their case against oil giants ExxonMobil Corporation and Suncor. According to Boulder County, the plaintiffs are seeking recompense for what they describe as "deceptive and reckless conduct," alleging that these companies long knew the destructive potential of their actions yet continued to deceive the public.
Richard Herz, the Chief Litigation Attorney at EarthRights International, was clear in his stance, Boulder County's release pointed out that Exxon has understood the harsh impacts of human-induced climate shifts for decades, even as they continued their prolific fossil fuel sales. "Exxon has known for decades that human caused climate alteration would have catastrophic effects, including in Colorado. Yet it continued to sell fossil fuels at levels it knew would make its own dire predictions come true, and to lie about the harms," Herz said, as per Boulder County. ExxonMobil, for its part, argues to the Colorado Supreme Court that the state's laws don't have the leverage to hold the company responsible.
The journey to the Colorado Supreme Court has been strewn with legal battles for Boulder County and the City of Boulder since the original filing in 2018. Their legal odyssey included resisting the defendants' attempts to transfer the case to federal court, which escalated to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2023. However, a pivotal moment arrived in June 2024 when the Boulder district court cleared the way for the case by rejecting the majority of the defendants' objections, marking a historic step for community-led climate litigation, as noted by Boulder County.
This landmark case has gained attention not just for its contents, but for its durability in the legal system. The June 2024 ruling heralded the case as one of the few climate lawsuits nationwide to survive a motion to dismiss, thus enabling the case to proceed to a full trial. EarthRights International, alongside counsel from Singleton Schreiber, LLP, the Law Office of Marco B. Simons, and the Law Offices of David Bookbinder, continue to represent the plaintiffs in their push for justice. With its ruling, the Colorado Supreme Court will dictate the next chapter in this emblematic legal tussle over corporate accountability in the age of climate change.
