Two days after the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the Boulder climate lawsuit, the case and broader energy security issues landed squarely on the campaign trail in one of the country’s biggest congressional races.
During a debate between Republican Gabe Evans and Democrat Manny Rutinel in Colorado’s hotly-contested 8th Congressional District, climate cases went from an activist-driven legal campaign being fought in the nation’s courtrooms to an issue that impacts the daily lives of Coloradans and Americans across the country.
And in the congressional district that borders Boulder, Evans wasted no time explaining how Boulder’s climate lawsuit would impact consumers:
“Right now, EarthJustice, the guys he works for, are in cahoots with Democrats from Boulder, Colorado, arguing a case before the United States Supreme Court to be allowed to sue every corner gas station, every refinery, and every oil and gas producer in the country. You know what that does to gas prices? That raises them and they never come back down.”
Efforts to sue oil and gas companies for the global effects of climate change will raise prices for Americas by an average of $1,465 each year, according to a recent report by Power the Future and the Heritage Foundation. Evans hit on that theme:
“Colorado’s 8th Congressional District, feeds and fuels the rest of Colorado. Weld County, Colorado is the 11 highest agriculture-producing county in the nation. My district makes 4% of all U.S. crude oil, half of the diesel fuel in the state of Colorado, a third of the gasoline, and the third of the jet fuel in the state of Colorado are made down in Commerce City.
“And again, as we’ve gone through, my opponent’s entire adult life, when he’s not trying to attack farmers and ranchers, it’s around banning and suing, and bankrupting energy producers in the country and especially now in the state of Colorado.
“We’ve gone back to this time and again, right now, [Rutinel]’s allies are arguing before the Supreme Court to be able to sue every corner of gas station into bankruptcy for the crime of selling gasoline and diesel. You know what that your gas prices? That raises them sky high and they never come down. That takes away thousands of jobs, that takes away billions of dollars from our economy. It raises your grocery store prices.”
The Goal Has Always Been To Raise Prices
While Boulder claims its lawsuit is only about collecting damages from local climate impacts, attorneys associated with the case have said otherwise.
As an EarthRights International attorney working on Boulder’s lawsuit said, one of the goals is to “raise the price of the products” produced by energy companies to reduce consumption.
And former Boulder counsel David Bookbinder was even more explicit last year when he described climate litigation as an indirect “carbon tax,” because liability costs passed on through energy prices would discourage their use.
Bottom Line: Boulder’s climate lawsuit is unpopular in Colorado, a fact that was laid bare in the congressional debate. The lawsuit would raise prices while opening up the potential to sue any person who uses oil and gas products or emits greenhouse gases – by design.
