Supreme Court weighs local governments' climate change lawsuits against oil and gas companies

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court grappled Monday with whether local governments can sue oil and gas companies in state court to help cover costs associated with climate change, an issue with potentially billions of dollars at stake.

Key justices appeared wary about the potential sweep of litigation, but torn over the complex questions of federal and state law raised by the case.

Officials in Boulder argue their lawsuit is an attempt to hold energy companies Suncor and ExxonMobil accountable for their contributions to climate change.

They say that worsening disasters such as floods and wildfires put a heavy financial burden on local communities, and the industry should bear part of that cost.

The city and county of Boulder first sued the oil companies in 2018, years before the 2021 Marshall Fire destroyed nearly 1,100 homes and left two people dead. Total damage was estimated at $2 billion, the costliest wildfire in Colorado history.

The companies say that a flurry of lawsuits in state courts is not the way to deal with the global issue.

Governments from largely blue-leaning areas around the country have filed similar lawsuits seeking damages that could total billions of dollars, part of a wave of legal action worldwide seeking to leverage action through the courts.

“Presumably, if you prevail, the next day, a municipality in every single state will file a lawsuit,” said Chief Justice John Roberts. “How do you think that will work out on the ground?”

Justice Brett Kavanaugh said a win by Boulder could bankrupt the oil companies and other potential defendants.

"I mean, anyone is a potential defendant for a suit like this. Any manufacturer, any business,'' he said.

A win for the oil and gas companies at the Supreme Court, meanwhile, could shut down dozens of similar cases filed in recent years.

Suncor and Exxon argue that the Clean Air Act gives the federal government – not the states – the power to regulate emissions.

They have the support of the Trump administration, which argues the lawsuits are an unconstitutional attempt to regulate planet-warming emissions and impose Colorado’s state law beyond its borders.

But Roberts and other justices pointed out that state courts consider lawsuits about a myriad of issues that have nationwide reach. “I guess I’m not quite sure what makes this situation different from those,” Roberts said.

The court is also weighing a jurisdictional question that could allow it an “off-ramp" to avoid deciding the issues right away. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson seemed like a vote in favor of that path.

“Why shouldn’t we wait and hear all of these claims once the state courts are done?" she asked.

The case was heard without Justice Samuel Alito, who recused himself just a week before arguments after facing calls to step aside because he owns stock in oil companies. That raises the possibility of a tie vote.

A deadlock would leave in place a decision from Colorado’s highest court allowing the case to proceed.

Attorney Kannon Shanmugam, representing the industry, urged the justices to reverse that ruling. He said the Boulder case was attempting to use the courts to decide a public policy issue that is properly up to Congress and other elected officials.

“Climate change is certainly one of the most pressing issues” facing the country, but the lawsuit “is exactly the wrong way to go about” addressing it, he said.

Principal Deputy Solicitor General Sarah Harris said Boulder’s case “egregiously exceeds” the state’s authority. The county essentially declares itself a victim of actions that occurred largely out of state, she said.

But Kevin Russell, an attorney representing Boulder, argued that state lawsuits can address damage in Colorado, regardless where the fossil fuels are produced.

Boulder is not trying to regulate greenhouse gas emissions or stop the companies from continuing to produce oil and gas, Russell said. Instead officials are seeking to hold the companies accountable for allegedly misleading the public about their contribution to global warming by burning fossil fuels, he said.

Justice Elena Kagan compared the climate case to previous state-based lawsuits against the tobacco industry and opioid makers.

“This is Chapter 3,” she said, noting the similarities of states claiming harms from products produced nationally and even internationally.

“This is a different book,″ replied Shanmugam, the industry lawyer. Harms claimed by Boulder “are diffused nationwide and indeed worldwide,” he said.

Trump's Republican administration has rolled back environmental regulations, including a move last month by the Environmental Protection Agency to repeal rules that limit emissions from power plants fueled by coal and natural gas. States and cities have already sued over the repeal of the power plant rule.

The conservative-majority Supreme Court has been skeptical of environmental regulations in the past, including in a 2022 decision limiting the EPA’s authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.

A decision is expected in the coming months.

Associated Press writer Nicholas Riccardi in Denver contributed to this story.

Climate activists gather outside the Supreme Court as the Supreme Court hears arguments in Suncor Energy v. Boulder County, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

An activist carries a sign at the Supreme Court as the court begins its new term with a case about whether oil and gas companies should help pay for damage caused by disasters linked to climate change, on Capitol Hill, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

Officers with the Supreme Court Police stand watch as the hight court begins its new term with a case about whether oil and gas companies should help pay for damage caused by disasters linked to climate change, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Activists take a stand as the Supreme Court begins its new term with a case about whether oil and gas companies should help pay for damage caused by disasters linked to climate change, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Colorado rancher Kathryn Bedell talks about the impact of droughts on her business as activists gather at the Supreme Court for a case about whether oil and gas companies should help pay for damage caused by disasters linked to climate change, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

MADRID (AP) — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Monday announced an early general election, seeking to seize momentum from housing protests that have roiled the country and frame the vote around issues that are favorable to his Socialist party.

The election is scheduled for ​Nov. ⁠29, and will come roughly eight months earlier than originally planned.

Spaniards have staged repeated protests in cities across the country in recent weeks, demanding action on the entrenched housing crisis amid outrage over the widely publicized eviction of an 87-year-old woman in Madrid last month. Tens of thousands of protesters marched in Barcelona on Monday night.

Sánchez’s government suffered a bruising legislative defeat last week when right-wing opposition parties voted down emergency decrees introduced by his government to address evictions and real estate speculation. The setback sparked wide speculation that Sánchez would move forward the general election and use the momentum on the housing issue against his right-wing opponents.

If Sánchez's gamble backfires, it could pave the way for a right-wing coalition of conservatives and the far-right Vox party, bringing an end to one of Europe's most prominent progressive governments, led by a vocal critic of the Trump administration.

In an address to the nation, Sánchez argued that a broader progressive coalition in Parliament would allow Spain to tackle its biggest challenges.

“The time has come for the Spanish people to decide what future you want for yourselves and for your country,” Sánchez said.

“Whether you wish to join that far-right wave — which rolls back progress wherever it governs — or whether you want Spain to remain a bastion of openness, social justice, and environmental responsibility. Whether you want our country to move backward or continue moving forward,” he said.

Sánchez, 54, has been prime minister since 2018, making him one of Europe’s longest-serving leaders.

He has emerged as a leading progressive voice internationally through his defense of migration, his support for Palestinians and his criticism of the U.S. and Israeli war against Iran. He has also defended multilateral institutions and called for regulation of artificial intelligence, speaking out against “tech oligarchs.”

Under his leadership, Spain has had one of the fastest growing economies in the developed world in recent years.

But a series of legal cases involving his party as well as his wife and his brother have damaged the prime minister's standing. His wife and brother deny wrongdoing.

He has also struggled to account for this summer’s border crossing by tens of thousands of mostly Moroccans into Spain’s North African territory of Ceuta, where a humanitarian crisis remains two months after the initial border crossing.

He has led a coalition minority government along with the left-wing junior partner Sumar since 2023. But his reliance on several smaller parties to get anything done has hamstrung his legislative ability.

Throughout his political career, Sánchez has earned a reputation as a political escape artist capable of winning elections he appeared set to lose.

Speculation around whether he would announce snap elections centered on the momentum that his party may now have around housing and public services, while the opposition Popular Party — which holds the most seats in Parliament already — is likely to define the contest around corruption and the ruling government's mismanagement of the Ceuta crisis.

Opinion polls suggest the Popular Party and Vox could together win enough support to oust Sánchez. It remains unclear how strongly housing will motivate voters on either side.

“Sánchez is choosing this moment because it is arguably the best time to do so, given that the issue of housing frames the electoral conflict or debate in terms that are highly favorable to (his party's) position,” said Oriol Bartomeus, a political-science professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

“Sánchez can frame the election — or has realized he can frame it — in very classic left-versus-right terms,” Bartomeus said.

Sánchez will face Popular Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who aims to take control of the government.

“At last, the Spanish people will decide,” Feijóo said on Monday after the election announcement. “These are not elections like previous ones in our democracy. This is about Spain defeating Sánchez and what he represents,” he said.

Wilson reported from Barcelona, Spain.

Tens of thousands march protesting the housing situation in Spain, just hours after Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced an early general election, in Barcelona, Spain, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Tens of thousands march protesting the housing situation in Spain, just hours after Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced an early general election, in Barcelona, Spain, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

People seen through a window inside a bar in La Cabrera, on the outskirts of Madrid, Spain, watch a televised speech by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez from La Moncloa Palace announcing national elections, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

People at a bar in La Cabrera, on the outskirts of Madrid, Spain, watch a televised speech by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez from La Moncloa Palace announcing national elections, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

FILE - A partially damaged poster of Spanish Prime Minister and Socialist Party candidate Pedro Sanchez flaps in Parla, on the outskirts of Madrid, Spain, April 26, 2019. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File)

FILE - Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez attends the inauguration of the Tower of Jesus Christ by Pope Leo XIV at the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File)

FILE - Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez poses for a portrait after an interview with The Associated Press at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain, June 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File)

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, left, applauds at the Spanish parliament in Madrid, Friday Oct. 2, 2026. (Eduardo Parra/Europa Press via AP)

People demonstrate to demand stronger laws to protect renters in Madrid, Spain Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026. The banner reads in Spanish: toward the general strike. (AP Photo/Andrea Comas)

People demonstrate to demand stronger laws to protect renters in Madrid, Spain Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrea Comas)

People hold up keys as a sign of protest during a demonstration demanding stronger laws to protect renters in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrea Comas)

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez arrives at the Spanish parliament in Madrid, Friday Oct. 2, 2026. (Eduardo Parra/Europa Press via AP)