Supreme Court rejects climate-related lawsuit from 19 Republican-led states

The U.S. Supreme Court just left Republicans at a loss for words after rejecting a recent lawsuit.

A group of 19 Republicans was given a “no” from the Supreme Court when they sought to block various climate change lawsuits that had been filed against the gas and oil industries by various Democratic-led states.

The lawsuits will be allowed to continue for now.

The Supreme Court Justices also declined to hear what the Republicans backing the block and challenging the lawsuits had to say on the matter.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said “Our exclusive original jurisdiction over suits between states reflects a determination by the framers and by Congress about the need 'to open and keep open the highest court of the nation' for such suits, in recognition of the 'rank and dignity of the states.”

“Yet, this court has — essentially for policy reasons — assumed a power to summarily turn away suits between states. The court today exercises that power to reject a suit involving nearly half the states in the nation, which alleges serious constitutional violations.”

The lawsuits in question were filed by dozens of state and local governments and accuse various companies that work with fossil fuel of hiding the truth of how much their company is truly impacting the environment.

However, the 19 Republicans have now argued that only the federal government should have the right to make decisions regarding interstate gas emissions.

Newsweek received an email statement from Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison on the issue that read “The Republican Attorneys General Association takes its marching orders from its largest donors: fossil fuel interests and [influential conservative strategist] Leonard Leo.”

“This was never anything more than an attempt to run interference, help the defendants in our cases avoid accountability, and play politics with the Constitution. I am glad the Supreme Court saw through it all and put an end to their charade,” it continued.

Even though this particular effort by Republicans appears to have come up short, Donald Trump has promised that throughout his presidency, he will continue to advocate for responsibility when it comes to environmental laws.