Boulder, Colorado, has spent decades wearing a nickname most towns would take as an insult: “The People's Republic of Boulder.” It’s a college town of roughly 100,000 people, where the politics climb about as high as … the elevation. But now Boulder wants to export its “Rocky Mountain High,” and it’s headed to the Supreme Court.
At stake before SCOTUS is whether that town gets to set energy policy for the rest of America. That’s the real question in Suncor Energy Inc. v. County Commissioners of Boulder County, no matter how carefully supporters dress it up.
In 2018, the City of Boulder, Boulder County, and San Miguel County sued in Colorado state court arguing energy companies’ products fueled climate change and that the companies should cover whatever local costs these opportunistic politicians wanted.
Translation: Sell a legal product to willing customers around the world, and a county in Colorado can bill you for the weather.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member