WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a request from more than two dozen multinational energy companies to block a state court lawsuit brought by the city of Baltimore seeking to hold the companies accountable for their role in changing the earth’s climate. The companies want to move the suit to federal court, and they had asked the justices to halt proceedings in state court while the question of which court should hear the case was resolved. The Supreme Court’s brief order gave no reasons. It noted that Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. had disqualified himself from the case, presumably because of a financial conflict. 19A368, is one of more than a dozen filed by state and local governments around the nation seeking compensation for what they said were injuries caused by the energy companies’ conduct.

Source: New York Times October 22, 2019 18:11 UTC