Press Releases
May 12, 2025
COLORADO — In a major victory for communities fighting to hold Big Oil companies accountable for their climate lies, the Colorado Supreme Court today upheld a lower court ruling that will allow Boulder’s climate deception lawsuit against ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy to advance toward trial.
The ruling marks the third time that a state supreme court has ruled that one of a growing number of state and local climate deception lawsuits against ExxonMobil and other oil giants can proceed toward discovery and trial. The top state courts in Hawai`i and Massachusetts have each previously rejected the fossil fuel industry’s attempts to stop climate deception lawsuits. Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Big Oil’s requests to review the Hawai`i Supreme Court decision.
The city and county of Boulder’s lawsuit, filed in 2018, seeks to make Exxon and Suncor pay for deceiving the public about their products’ role in climate change and knowingly fueling the crisis. A similar lawsuit from San Miguel County, Colorado, is proceeding separately.
In March, the Wall Street Journal reported that the oil industry is lobbying Congress for legal protections against climate accountability cases. Nearly 200 advocacy groups — including the Center for Climate Integrity — have urged leaders in Congress to oppose those efforts.
Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity, released the following statement:
“Despite Big Oil’s ongoing efforts to escape accountability, the courts have once again sided with communities fighting to put these companies on trial for their climate lies and the massive damages they’ve caused. Every state supreme court to consider issues in these cases so far has rejected Big Oil’s arguments to escape trial, which is why the fossil fuel industry is now lobbying Congress to bail them out.
“The people of Boulder have been fighting to have their case heard for seven years, all while suffering from the worsening effects of a climate crisis Big Oil knowingly fueled. It’s time for Exxon and Suncor to face the evidence of their deception in court.”
Background on U.S. Climate Accountability Lawsuits Against Big Oil:
Eleven attorneys general — in California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai`i, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, and the District of Columbia — and dozens of city, county, and tribal governments in California, Colorado, Hawai`i, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Washington, and Puerto Rico, have filed lawsuits to hold major oil and gas companies accountable for deceiving the public about their products’ role in climate change. These cases collectively represent more than 1 in 4 people living in the United States. Last year the attorney general of Michigan announced plans to take fossil fuel companies to court.