ELISSA NADWORNY, HOST:
The Supreme Court kicks off its new term tomorrow, and it's likely to be packed with controversy. The justices will consider major cases on religion in schools, semi-automatic rifles and immigration - a central part of President Trump's second term agenda. But President Trump says that the court hasn't done enough to support his policies. Speaking on CBS' "Face The Nation" today, Justice Samuel Alito says political attacks from either party on the court can do real harm.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "FACE THE NATION")
SAMUEL ALITO: I think it's damaging. I think it can be quite damaging.
NADWORNY: In the first case of the new term that will be argued tomorrow, oil giants ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy are asking the justices to throw out a lawsuit brought by Boulder County, Colorado. Colorado Public Radio's Ishan Thakore has more on this blockbuster climate case.
ISHAN THAKORE, BYLINE: Paul Chinowsky has been coming to the Nighthawk Equestrian Center for years. Here, he can ride and tend horses far away from the worries of the world.
PAUL CHINOWSKY: It's just a great place to come out, and it's quiet and just unwind a little bit.
THAKORE: The center sits in Boulder's foothills, which are still dusty and dry after a record warm summer.
CHINOWSKY: Everything is just kindling. And it reminds me a lot of how dry it was before the Marshall fire.
THAKORE: The 2021 Marshall fire was Colorado's most destructive. It raced from grasslands like these well into the suburbs miles away. Chinowsky studies the costs towns face to prepare for climate-driven disasters like that. He's pegged some of Boulder's costs to adapt to fires, floods and extreme heat at well over $100 million.
CHINOWSKY: They don't have those funds to do all of these things in front of them, and that's the challenge.
THAKORE: The Marshall fire made Chinowsky's work more urgent because he survived it. Firefighters battled the blaze from his back porch. To prevent more people from experiencing what he did, he says cities are going to have to spend a lot to fortify themselves. And if they don't...
CHINOWSKY: The people who are going to suffer are going to be the next LA, the next Boulder, the next Lahaina, the next Texas floods.
THAKORE: In 2018, the city and county of Boulder sued Exxon and Suncor. The lawsuit says the companies hid the risks of burning fossil fuels. The strategy - it's similar to how tobacco companies got sued in the '90s. Boulder wants the oil companies to pay a share of its climate-driven costs. Michael Gerrard is the founder of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University.
MICHAEL GERRARD: They're not seeking emissions regulations. They're just seeking money damages.
THAKORE: Opponents like Todd Zywicki, a law professor at George Mason University, say Boulder is actually trying a backdoor way to regulate and reduce fossil fuel use around the world.
TODD ZYWICKI: What this case is about is a bunch of one-percenter hippies in Boulder County who want to tell the rest of us how we have to live and want to tell poor people around the world that they should not be allowed to have access to inexpensive fossil fuels.
THAKORE: In its legal briefs, Boulder says it's not trying to limit fossil fuel use. Instead, Boulder wants to go to trial to seek accountability from oil companies. For eight years, Boulder and the companies have battled over procedural questions. The Supreme Court will not actually rule on the merits of Boulder's suit. The court is considering whether it can even be heard in state court because opponents say Boulder's claims are trumped by federal laws like the Clean Air Act. Alejandro Camacho, a UCLA law professor, said an expansive ruling that favors the companies could hamper more than two dozen similar climate accountability suits nationwide.
ALEJANDRO CAMACHO: A broad ruling against the county ends essentially all of them, and the public, frankly - all of us - end up footing the bill before the case can even be heard.
THAKORE: A ruling could also close the door on similar future cases being brought in federal court. Chinowsky wants Boulder's case to get in front of a jury. There, both sides will have a chance to ask, who will pay to prepare the county for disasters and how much exactly? For now, that's still an open question. For NPR News, I'm Ishan Thakore in Boulder. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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