Eight of the nine justices heard nearly two hours of oral arguments in a case involving an effort by the city and county of Boulder, Colorado, to hold energy companies accountable for the effects of global climate change.
Page F3From§Eachthe wee small hours edition — 6 October 2026
Alito recuses from Exxon's climate case days before arguments, years after critics first asked him to.
As it ran on the front
On Monday, eight of the nine Supreme Court justices sat for nearly two hours of oral argument in Suncor Energy v. The ninth seat was empty. Justice Samuel Alito had recused himself a week earlier, on September 28, offering no reason. The next day, Common Dreams called the recusal the bare minimum, citing years of pressure over Alito's ties to the industry the case is about.
The question in front of the eight who remained was narrower than Boulder's wildfire bills: whether federal law even lets a city sue an oil company in state court over a global phenomenon. Nearly 60 similar suits, filed by states, counties, cities and tribes, wait on the answer. The companies spent Monday's two hours arguing that the question should be decided before any jury hears what Boulder says they hid.…
…(cont) They have already won that argument once. Boulder's lawyers walked into the same room with the same defense waiting for them, just bigger — a county's flood and fire bills instead of a state's superfund.
Outside the courtroom, the number the case is actually about keeps compounding somewhere else. On September 16, ActionAid International reported that the world's most climate-vulnerable nations are spending nearly 25 times more servicing debt than addressing the climate emergency itself. That is the ledger Boulder is trying to balance in miniature: a government paying for a disaster it did not cause, arguing in front of a court missing the justice whose portfolio touches the defendant, under a precedent that already told the last plaintiff no.
The eight who heard the case Monday did not rule. Alito did not explain. The debt comes due either way.
“Alito had conflicts of interest with the fossil fuel industry for years before he stepped aside, and he still waited until days before the hearing to do it. That's not recusal, that's running out the clock until the whistle blows. Boulder's trying to make Exxon pay for fires and floods the company spent decades studying while lying about them, and the same Court already used this exact defense to kill New York's climate law five weeks earlier.”
“You can't have every county suing over the weather — federal law needs one national energy policy, not a patchwork of judges in Albany and Boulder deciding what the atmosphere owes somebody. And Justice Alito recused the second it mattered, which — did I say "the second it mattered"? I meant well within professional norms.”
Earlier in this story
- Alito says the Court isn't political, calls overturning Roe courage, and recused from a major climate case. By Chip · the late evening edition, 5 October 2026
The receipts
World leaders are in New York this week for the United Nations General Assembly, which coincides with Climate Week. It comes after months of climate-fueled extreme weather around the world, including heat waves in North America and Europe, wildfires in Africa, flash flooding in Asia and a record-breaking El Niño. Climate campaigner Bill…
Eight of the nine justices heard oral arguments in a case involving an effort by Colorado's Boulder County and the city of Boulder to hold energy companies accountable for the effects of global climate change.
The Supreme Court is weighing whether state and local governments can sue energy companies over alleged harm caused by climate change. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, who led 26 states in urging the high court to halt a climate lawsuit from Boulder, Colorado, joins CBS News to discuss.
The Supreme Court is considering a major lawsuit brought by Boulder, Colo., against Exxon Mobil and Suncor Energy seeking financial damages for impacts of climate change.
The US Supreme Court on Monday appeared skeptical of efforts by ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy to prevent a Colorado climate liability lawsuit from going to trial, with justices across the ideological spectrum questioning the fossil fuel companies’ arguments for shutting down the case before evidence of their alleged deception can be…
The Supreme Court's new term kicked off on Monday and the justices are expected to weigh in on issues from voting rights to gun control. The first case of this term examines whether federal law prevents state and local governments from holding oil companies liable in climate disputes. CBS News legal reporter Kartina Kaufman has a preview…
· Vulnerable Countries Spend Nearly 25 Times More Repaying Debt Than on Climate Action from the morgue, 16 Sep 2026
· Court strikes down New York law that sought to hold fossil fuel companies liable for climate change from the morgue, 1 Sep 2026
· Alito Recusal in Landmark Climate Case Called 'Bare Minimum' Given Big Oil Tactics from the morgue, 29 Sep 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.