ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL DEFENDS STATE COURTS’ ROLE IN CLIMATE CASE BEFORE U.S. SUPREME COURT

ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL DEFENDS STATE COURTS' ROLE IN CLIMATE CASE BEFORE U.S. SUPREME COURT

August 03, 2026

Chicago - Attorney General Kwame Raoul today joined a multistate state coalition of 16 attorneys general in filing a court brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Suncor Energy (U.S.A.) Inc. v. County Commissioners of Boulder County, urging the court to follow longstanding jurisdictional rules and preserve the role of state courts in resolving state common-law claims.

The case stems from a lawsuit filed by Boulder County and the city of Boulder, Colorado against several fossil fuel companies seeking damages for alleged harms related to climate change. The companies asked the Supreme Court to review the case before Colorado's courts have finished considering it. In addition to agreeing to hear the appeal, the Supreme Court directed the parties to address whether it has the authority to hear the case at this stage of the litigation.

"For decades, state and local governments have had access to state courts to seek justice on behalf of the people they represent," Raoul said. "I am proud to join my colleagues in urging the Supreme Court to preserve that right."

Raoul and the coalition argue in their brief that the court's decision could affect far more than this case. States across the country rely on their courts to decide a range of state common-law claims. Raoul and the coalition warn that allowing federal courts to intervene before state court proceedings are complete and decided on their merits would impact a range of cases well beyond the climate litigation brought here.

Raoul and the coalition's brief further explains that states should not lose their authority to apply state law simply because a case involves issues that cross state lines. The attorneys general say the Constitution does not automatically prevent states from hearing these claims.

Finally, Raoul and the coalition note that state courts already have well-established legal rules for determining whether claims should proceed. Those decisions, the attorneys general say, should be made through the normal judicial process rather than through a broad new federal rule that prevents state law claims from proceeding in state courts.

Joining Raoul in filing the brief are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Washington.