Sometime this month, the Supreme Court is likely to overturn something known as the Chevron deference, which grants federal agencies the authority to interpret the laws that Congress passes. The ruling, depending on its scope, could knee-cap the federal government’s ability to do its job. That would be a windfall not just for big business generally but fossil fuel interests, in particular, who would like it to be harder for regulators to limit emissions from power plants, cars and other polluting goods. These same oil and gas executives may get another gift on top of the Supreme Court’s Chevron ruling, too.

As Dharna Noor reported for The Guardian recently, a who’s who of fossil fuel interests are now pushing SCOTUS to consider whether states can sue corporate polluters for climate damages—and, instead, rule that greenhouse gas emissions are a strictly federal matter. The case in question is Honolulu’s 2020 suit against several major oil companies, including Chevron and Shell. If SCOTUS were to side with the industry and throw out the case, courts might then also dismiss the cases of the 40 cities and states now........

© New Republic