• Here’s what happened: The U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether to weigh in on the city and county of Honolulu’s climate nuisance lawsuit, one of dozens nationwide seeking to hold oil and gas companies responsible for damages related to climate change.
• ICYMI: As part of those considerations, SCOTUS has asked for the Biden administration’s input because the case depends, in part, on the reach and application of the federal Clean Air Act. 
  • The court is likely seeking the federal government’s opinion on the case’s implications for the Clean Air Act, if any. Dig in deeper
    
• Sound familiar? In 2011, SCOTUS unanimously dismissed similar claims in federal court, ruling that the Clean Air Act preempted them. Now the plaintiffs are trying to get around that ruling by filing in state courts, instead.
• Throwback: “It is primarily the office of Congress, not the federal courts, to prescribe national policy in areas of special federal interest.” –former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in the court’s 2011 ruling
• TLR Thoughts: The U.S. Supreme Court has the opportunity to uphold the constitutional separation of powers by clearly defining once and for all whether state public nuisance law can apply to major national public policy issues like climate change.

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