(The Center Square) – Amicus briefs were filed Thursday by the Pelican Institute for Public Policy in two cases that are before the U.S. Supreme Court, according to a release.
“These cases are about more than the energy industry – they are about the integrity of our constitutional legal system,” said Daniel Erspamer, CEO of the Pelican Institute. “In the end, it is American families and workers who pay the price when trial lawyers seize the power of the state seemingly for personal gain. The Supreme Court has an opportunity to restore accountability and protect both our energy future and our rule of law.”
The two cases are Chevron v. Plaquemines Parish and Suncor v. Boulder County. Both, according to Pelican Institute General Counsel Sarah Harbison, “demonstrate how politically motivated lawsuits are being weaponized to rewrite history and regulate by litigation.”
Chevron v. Plaquemines Parish deals with Louisiana’s battle with coastal lawsuits seeking to impose retroactive liability on companies for oil and gas production.
Suncor v. Boulder County argues that Colorado attempting to apply state tort law to global greenhouse gas emissions violates constitutional principles of horizontal federalism.
The Center Square’s previous coverage on Louisiana’s energy sector details one of 42 lawsuits filed across the Louisiana coast – Plaquemines Parish v. Chevron USA, Inc., which resulted in a $744 million payment from Chevron for damages to coastal wetlands. According to the Pelican Institute, this jury verdict sent a ripple effect of similar suits threatening the state with billions in damage costs.
“The genius of America’s constitutional structure is that it leaves most policy issues to the states while allowing the federal government to handle truly interstate issues,” said Ilya Shapiro, the Manhattan Institute’s Director of Constitutional Studies.
“The regulation of our national energy network and of national – indeed global – greenhouse gas emissions are such areas of authority that the Constitution wisely gives to Congress, not to the states, let alone county and local governments.”
