Many organizations coming to Big Oil’s defense in Suncor v. Boulder are funded by the companies they are trying to protect, members of Congress and a watchdog group say.
By CENTER FOR CLIMATE INTEGRITY
Watchdog groups and members of Congress are sounding the alarm on the interconnected web of organizations coming to Big Oil’s defense as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments in one of the dozens of climate deception cases against fossil fuel companies.
A new report from Consumer Watchdog (opens in new tab) found that 25 of the 38 briefs submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the oil companies named in Boulder, Colorado’s climate deception lawsuit against ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy were written by groups with financial ties to the oil defendants or their allies. The report makes the case that Big Oil companies are essentially paying to create the illusion of a broad swath of organizations supporting their defense when, in reality, that support is mostly at the influence of the companies themselves.
“The industry-siding amicus briefs in Suncor create the appearance of broad, independent support for Exxon and Suncor,” the report states. “Consumer Watchdog’s investigation found that most of the organizations are instead part of an interconnected funding network, linked by fossil fuel companies, industry-funded organizations, and foundations that have spent decades financing climate denial and opposition to climate regulation.”
According to Consumer Watchdog, ExxonMobil — one of the defendants in Boulder’s case — has financial or governance ties to eleven of the briefs, representing more than a quarter of the briefs submitted on behalf of the oil companies. The report also points to the influence of climate denial groups, Suncor-investor Paul Singer, and broader industry players including Koch Industries.
Similarly, 90 members of Congress who submitted a brief (opens in new tab) to the Supreme Court in support of Boulder’s climate deception case also called attention to the fossil fuel funding many groups writing in support of the oil companies had received.
“These amicus briefs present as an outpouring of support for a legal position, but publicly available information shows them to be funded by a small and powerful phalanx of self-interested entities,” reads the brief led by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Representative Pramila Jayapal. “These industry front groups and their funders are part of a tightly connected web of organizations dedicated to protecting fossil fuel interests in Congress, at executive agencies, and in the courts.”
Federal lawmakers found that 17 of the briefs submitted in support of the oil companies had ties to oil majors including ExxonMobil, Chevron, and BP, Koch Industries, and other oil allies such as conservative activist Leonard Leo, whose network has been linked to the recent effort to pass state-level legislation to shield oil companies (opens in new tab) from legal liability.
Dozens of experts, officials, and impacted community members submitted briefs to the Supreme Court in support of Boulder’s case, encouraging the court to allow the case to move forward.
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Boulder’s ability to move its climate deception lawsuit toward trial on October 5.
