Monday’s first argument day of the new term puts climate liability at the lectern. SCOTUSblog lists Suncor Energy Inc. v. County Commissioners of Boulder County for argument Oct. 5 — the question being whether federal law preempts Boulder’s state-law claims seeking to hold energy companies liable for climate-related harms, and related jurisdiction issues. Justice Samuel Alito will not participate, SCOTUSblog and Colorado Public Radio reported after he stepped aside from the major Boulder climate dispute.

For coastal and mountain communities watching their own suits, the stake is whether state courts remain open for public-nuisance and similar claims or whether federal displacement closes that door. Energy companies argue national regulation and federal common law should control; local governments argue traditional state tort remedies still reach deceptive marketing and local damages. An eight-justice bench can still decide the case, but a 4–4 split would leave the lower-court result in place without a nationwide rule.

Backstory: dozens of cities and counties have filed climate cases over the past decade; Boulder’s path became a vehicle the Court chose. Scientists’ physical climate record is not on trial as a jury fact here so much as the legal path for using it. Audio of the argument typically posts the same day on the Court’s site for public listening. Colorado local governments have spent years building the evidentiary record now before the justices; other states are watching for copy-ready theories. Primary documents linked below carry the figures used here.

What we know:
Argument is set for Oct. 5; Alito is not participating; the dispute centers on federal preemption of state climate tort claims.

What we don’t:
How the eight participating justices will divide, and whether a narrow jurisdictional ruling avoids the bigger preemption question.