Kevin S. Hannon, Partner at Singleton Schreiber in Denver, and Yohania T. Santana, Counsel at Singleton Schreiber in Denver, were both featured in a Law360 article,"Boulder Says Exxon Can't Trust Law to Avoid Climate Fight" (subscription required).
The article provides an overview of Exxon's recent arguments to the Colorado Supreme Court that they did not need explicit permission from the Clean Air Act to bring its state law claims, that a state judge's order to allow the climate tort suit to go forward should be reversed, and that federal law governs claims related to emissions over state court adjudication.
The article also provides a summary of the Boulder plaintiffs' arguments to the Colorado Supreme Court, that Exxon were twisting preemption standards to avoid a climate suit, that the Clean Air Act doesn't preempt claims of deceptive marketing and that companies like Exxon knew their products would cause climate change & harm Colorado communities, and that individuals should continue to seek damages against Exxon under state tort law since this still applies even if their conduct impacts communities outside of Colorado.
"Cases involving national marketing, global distribution, and nationally dispersed harm are ubiquitous. . . [and contending state law is]. . . fully capable of handling liability for in-state harms for conduct that originates outside Colorado."according to Hannon, Santana, and the other Boulder plaintiffs who later added, "These claims fall under Colorado's traditional authority to award damages for private misconduct. . . [that] Colorado law applies to these Colorado injuries, and it requires that Exxon pay its fair share for the harms it has inflicted in these communities."
This ongoing case is County Commissioners of Boulder County et al. V. Suncor Energy USA Inc. et al. (2024).
