NAM Files Amicus Brief Urging Colorado Supreme Court to Hold that Climate Lawsuits Don’t Belong In State Courts

The National Association of Manufacturers filed an amicus brief in the Colorado Supreme Court urging the court to dismiss the climate lawsuit brought by Boulder and other Colorado municipalities.

Earlier this summer, a Colorado trial court denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss the case, ruling that the local governments’ lawsuit could go forward under Colorado state law even though they were alleging harms from global greenhouse gas emissions. The defendants filed an emergency petition with the state Supreme Court asking the court to hear the appeal now.

On July 29, the Colorado Supreme Court issued what is called a “Show Cause” order, asking the district court and local government plaintiffs “whether the district court erroneously concluded that respondents’ claims could proceed under state law.” 

In its amicus brief, the NAM applauded the Colorado Supreme Court for agreeing to decide this critical issue now, before the case proceeds to discovery and trial. As the brief explained, several federal courts and state courts have already held that attempting to determine who, if anyone, can be liable for global climate change is not a function of state law. Rather, the global energy issues raised in these lawsuits are matters of federal law, which is why the trial court’s ruling here should be overturned and the case dismissed.

“The vast majority of actions at issue in this litigation—including the extraction, production, promotion, marketing, and sale of energy, worldwide GHG emissions, and public discourse on these issues—occurred outside of Colorado’s borders and are not subject to Colorado law,” the NAM argued. “Foisting Colorado law on actions entirely in other states (and countries) is not permitted under the U.S. Constitution. Only federal law can govern these cross-border disputes.”

The NAM’s brief can be viewed here.