As of June 12, Colorado had reported 28,822 COVID-19 cases, including almost 1,100 in Boulder and San Miguel Counties. Like every state, Colorado needs all the help it can get in addressing the crisis. The last thing it needs is lawsuits from those same two counties, filed against some of the very companies bolstering the lagging economy – while also trying to help with the virus.
Yet both counties, and the City of Boulder, continue to push their lawsuits against and oil and gas industry – litigation that has already failed in federal courts and been abandoned by most states. Governor Jared Polis has deemed energy companies essential, for good reason. That industry is an economic engine that supports over 91,000 Colorado jobs (oil and gas, power generation, transmission and distribution, etc.), and pays almost a billion dollars to state and local governments every year.
In fact, a recent study from a University of Colorado Denver economist reported that oil and gas now contribute $13.5 billion to the state’s domestic product. The industry is also the main force behind over 80 percent of the money flowing to schools from the state school trust. Those numbers are growing, as is the national trend. A PwC analysis also shows that abundant natural gas supplies will lead to 1.4 million new manufacturing jobs by 2040, including many in Colorado.
Some of those same companies are also a critical part of the battle against COVID-19. The national response, and the response in Colorado, requires massive new manufacturing of protecting equipment and cleaning supplies, because so much of the supply chain otherwise depends upon Chine. So, energy firms including BP, Chevron, and Shell are stepping up to be part of that solution. So is ExxonMobil, whose predecessors invented isopropyl alcohol more than a century ago. Today, the company is re-purposing some of its manufacturing centers to produce 50 million bottles of hand sanitizer, 200 million medical masks, and 20 million medical gowns for front-line workers. Its partnership with Boeing is also producing personal protective equipment here in the U.S.
Officials in Boulder and San Miguel Counties, though, are either oblivious to these needs, or cannot set aside their insatiable thirst for destroying the energy industry. At a time of mass business closures and stay-at-home orders, these are companies whose revenues are putting money in the public schools, supporting local governments, and keeping thousands of families afloat. While one city and two counties continue to wage a losing legal battle against them.
In 2018, Boulder and Telluride politicians chose to join San Francisco, Oakland, and New York in suing major energy manufacturers in the name of climate change. Such vanity lawsuits were peddled by trial attorneys, mostly bankrolled by a New York foundation, hoping to score windfalls for local governments, big paydays for lawyers, and bankruptcy for oil companies. The New York case has already been dismissed; the others will be.
Nevertheless, the Colorado plaintiffs, salivating for their piece of the anticipated multi-billion-dollar settlements, continue arguing that they have to spend more to address climate change caused by CO2 emissions. They do not explain what impacts are specific to Boulder or Telluride, or how that has cost extra money. Obviously, the projected rise in ocean levels of a few inches could hardly impact Boulder at 5,340 feet above sea level, or Telluride at 8,750 feet.
No wonder Colorado’s state leaders did not join the charade. Governors John Hickenlooper and Jared Polis, and State Attorney General Phil Weiser, all liberals, declined to endorse the lawsuit. Attorney General Weiser summed it up: “The major reason that we have really reduced our carbon footprint here in Colorado is by moving from coal to natural gas. Given that, it’s not an obvious move that we would hold liable oil and gas producers.”
The Boulder and San Miguel lawsuits remain tied up in legal wrangling. The targeted energy companies argued the case in May, saying they belong in federal court, like those from other states. The plaintiffs, of course, want them decided in Boulder District Court, where they can count on “friendly” local judges. But regardless of the legal venue, the lawsuits are an exercise in futility. Even if successful, they would do nothing to reduce carbon emissions, or address climate impacts.
The global climate issue – and the COVID-19 issue – will be solved by advancing technology. We ought to encourage those doing the research and development, not try to sue our way to a more sustainable planet, or economically infect the hand that feeds us.
A version of this column originally appeared in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel June 19, 2020.
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