On February 23, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments in the City and County of Boulder’s climate lawsuit against two major energy companies. This offers the first real opportunity to rein in the nationally-coordinated climate litigation campaign that has sought to force policy outcomes through the courts that elected officials and voters have repeatedly rejected.

Here’s what you need to know. This post will be regularly updated.

What is the Boulder climate lawsuit?  

In 2018, the City and County of Boulder and San Miguel County filed a public nuisance climate lawsuit against Exxon Mobil and Suncor, seeking financial damages to pay for the costs of climate change. From the outset, the case raised serious questions about whether local governments should be allowed to use state tort law to extract damages for global phenomena driven by worldwide greenhouse gas emissions that have occurred across decades, across borders, and with the full knowledge and legal sanction of federal and state governments.

UPDATE (04/06/2026)

How does the Maryland Supreme Court decision affect the SCOTUS hearing?

On March 24, the Maryland Supreme Court recently affirmed the dismissal of three in-state climate lawsuits, delivering a consequential decision ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court considering Boulder’s nearly identical climate lawsuit.

Maryland’s dismissal of the Baltimore, Anne Arundel County, and Annapolis climate lawsuits created a direct split with other decisions from state supreme courts in Colorado and Hawaii, bolstering the argument that SCOTUS should review Boulder’s case on the merits.

Consider, the energy companies had asked the Maryland court to stay its ruling pending the outcome of Boulder’s case – and the Justices explicitly issued a decision so SCOTUS had “the benefit of a high court’s analysis that is different from that expressed by our colleagues on the high courts of Colorado and Hawaii.”

Read more on EID Climate.