Big Oil’s Supreme Court Tantrum: Shell & Friends Get Smacked Down

Well, well, well. It looks like Shell—along with its equally virtuous partners in climate destruction, Exxon, Chevron, BP, and ConocoPhillips—just took another legal hit. And not just any hit, but a nice, satisfying rejection from the U.S. Supreme Court. That’s right, the highest court in the land just told Big Oil’s fan club (otherwise known as 19 Republican attorneys general) to sit down and stop whining.

These oil-soaked litigators, led by Alabama’s Attorney General Steve Marshall, were trying to shut down climate lawsuits brought by California, Connecticut, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Rhode Island. These states, you see, dared to suggest that oil companies shouldn’t have lied to the public for decades about how burning fossil fuels would set the planet on fire. Telling the truth is still a radical concept in the fossil fuel world.

But let’s be clear: Shell and its industry pals are not about to take responsibility for anything. Because if they did, they might have to dip into the endless cash reserves that keep rolling in thanks to their top-tier enablers—like BlackRock and Vanguard. That’s right, these fine investment giants keep plowing money into Shell’s pockets, ensuring that the oil giant can continue its legacy of pollution, deception, and lobbying for regulatory loopholes.

The Supreme Court’s rejection wasn’t unanimous, of course. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito were outraged that the court declined to hear the case, lamenting that nearly half the states were involved in the challenge. Yes, the same states that are consistently at the forefront of blocking meaningful climate action and ensuring that fossil fuel companies remain untouchable.

The legal argument from Big Oil’s Republican cheerleaders? That these state-led climate lawsuits are an overreach—how dare California and friends hold these corporations accountable for the very real damage they’ve caused? Only the federal government can regulate interstate emissions, they say, because surely Congress—deeply influenced by fossil fuel lobbying—will take swift and decisive action. It’s an airtight argument, if you completely ignore history and basic reality.

Alabama’s Steve Marshall was deeply disappointed, whining that “states like California have benefited tremendously from traditional energy, yet they are now trying to impose crippling liability on companies for actions they took in Alabama and the rest of the world.” Translation: how dare anyone suggest that Shell should be held responsible for knowingly misleading the public while it made billions?

However, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison saw through the nonsense, calling the case “an attempt to run interference, help the defendants in our cases avoid accountability, and play politics with the Constitution.” Bingo. Because at the end of the day, Shell and its industry cronies are desperate to dodge the inevitable: public reckoning, financial accountability, and, heaven forbid, a future where oil executives don’t get to dictate environmental policy.

The Supreme Court has already rejected multiple attempts by oil companies to escape these lawsuits. In January, the justices refused to hear Sunoco’s plea to block a case from Honolulu after Hawaii’s Supreme Court gave it the green light. It looks like Shell’s legal strategy of “run away and hope no one notices” isn’t working as well as Shell hoped.

Of course, we can expect Donald Trump’s political machine to ride to Big Oil’s rescue. His 2024 campaign promised to “stop the wave of frivolous litigation from environmental extremists.” Because, as we all know, nothing screams “frivolous” like entire communities being swallowed by rising seas, burnt to a crisp by wildfires, or flattened by record-breaking storms.

But for now, Shell and its fossil fuel empire will have to face reality: Their legal immunity isn’t what it used to be. And if their biggest investors—looking at you, BlackRock—ever grow a conscience, well, that would really be an oil spill of epic proportions.

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