The U.S. Supreme Court decided Monday it won’t hear a lawsuit filed by Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond and 18 other attorneys general in a challenge to climate change lawsuits brought by Democratic-led states against the oil and gas industry.
Drummond and the other attorneys general filed suit last spring contending California and four other Democratic states were dictating national energy policy. The other states were Connecticut, Minnesota, New Jersey and Rhode Island.
“This wasteful litigation by five states is a brazen attempt to hobble energy policies that positively impact our country,” Drummond said in joining the lawsuit. “The energy industry is key to a thriving Oklahoma and nation. No single state – or even five – should be allowed to dictate what is right for another state. I will always defend what is right for Oklahomans.”
He joined the lawsuit led by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall. The Alabama-led motion was joined by attorneys general in Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.
The Associated Press reported Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito said they would have allowed the lawsuit to proceed for now. The justices don’t have the discretion to reject the complaint at this stage, Thomas wrote in a dissent that did not deal with the merits of the claim.
The Supreme Court also has so far turned away appeals by the energy companies seeking to get the justices involved in the issue.