John Krusel
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday asked President Joe Biden’s administration to weigh in on a bid by Sunoco and other oil companies to dismiss a Honolulu lawsuit accusing them of deceiving the public about climate change.
The request will delay the judges’ decision on whether to hear an appeal filed by the oil companies after Hawaii’s highest court allowed the suit to proceed. Other defendants in the lawsuit, which alleges violations of state law, include Exxon Mobil (NYSE:), BP (NYSE:), ConocoPhillips (NYSE:), BHP Group (NYSE:), Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:), Chevron (NYSE:) and Shell (LON:).
Honolulu accused them of misleading the public for decades about the dangers of climate change caused by burning fossil fuels.
The administration’s legal position will be outlined in a brief submitted by the attorney general, the Justice Department lawyer who represents the federal government in the Supreme Court.
The lawsuit was filed in 2020 by the City and County of Honolulu and the Honolulu Water Board, a semi-autonomous city agency. The plaintiffs said the companies’ misleading statements about the impacts of their fossil fuel products paved the way for property and infrastructure damage caused by human-caused climate change.