Justice Samuel Alito will not, after all, be deciding the climate change case his stock portfolio has a rooting interest in. On Monday, Supreme Court Clerk Scott Harris sent the parties in Suncor Energy v. County Commissioners of Boulder County a one-sentence notice, “I am writing to inform the parties that Justice Alito has determined that he will not continue to participate in this case.”
There was no reason given, which is just like always. Not that anyone needed one spelled out: Alito owns stock in other energy companies that, while not named parties in the case, have plenty riding on how it comes out, and ethics groups have spent months calling on him to step aside.
The case opens the Court’s new term next Monday, so Alito’s conscience kicked in with about a week to spare. Which I guess is an improvement since back in January, he stepped out of Chevron U.S.A. v. Plaquemines Parish days before oral argument because of those ConocoPhillips shares.
But nothing about Alito’s finances changed between February, when he voted to grant cert in Suncor, and Monday. His long-delayed financial disclosure confirmed he was still holding ConocoPhillips and Phillips 66 — the same holdings behind his recusal from the 2023 cert petition in this very case, and from a 2025 petition raising the same question against different oil companies. Back in May, a Court spokeswoman told NBC News that Alito “does not have a financial interest in any party” and that “his recusal is not required.” The Court also explained that the 2023 recusal had been “inadvertent.”
So he inadvertently got it right once, then deliberately got it wrong, and now he’s back to right. Progress!
What did change is how hard the conflict got to ignore. As Politico notes, Consumer Watchdog has pointed out that both ConocoPhillips and Phillips 66 have repeatedly warned their shareholders about the potential financial consequences of the case. It’s tough to claim you have no stake in the outcome when the companies you own keep telling you, in writing, that you do. The group also found that every climate case currently stayed pending the outcome of Suncor names ConocoPhillips, Phillips 66, or both as defendants.
Consumer Watchdog called the recusal the “right decision, and one he should have made from the start.”
“The public should not have to wonder whether a justice’s personal investments could benefit from a ruling that shields the fossil-fuel industry from liability,” said Organizing Director Alexandra Nagy.
The public shouldn’t have to wonder, but under an ethics code where the only enforcement mechanism is the justice’s own judgment, wondering is all the public gets. And for too long Alito’s judgment was that everything was fine, but better late than never, I guess.
Earlier: Sam Alito Delayed Financials Reveal Still Betting Big On Oil Companies As He Hears Climate Change Case
Samuel Alito Has Absolutely No (Direct) Financial Interest In The Upcoming Global Warming Case
Supreme Court Adopts ‘New’ Process To Avoid Conflicts Of Interest 20 Years Too Late
Remember That New Supreme Court Ethics Code? Sam Alito Doesn’t.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Bluesky @Kathryn1
The post Sam Alito’s Oil Stocks Finally Get Him Benched From The Big Climate Case appeared first on Above the Law.
Justice Samuel Alito will not, after all, be deciding the climate change case his stock portfolio has a rooting interest in. On Monday, Supreme Court Clerk Scott Harris sent the parties in Suncor Energy v. County Commissioners of Boulder County a one-sentence notice, “I am writing to inform the parties that Justice Alito has determined that he will not continue to participate in this case.”
There was no reason given, which is just like always. Not that anyone needed one spelled out: Alito owns stock in other energy companies that, while not named parties in the case, have plenty riding on how it comes out, and ethics groups have spent months calling on him to step aside.
The case opens the Court’s new term next Monday, so Alito’s conscience kicked in with about a week to spare. Which I guess is an improvement since back in January, he stepped out of Chevron U.S.A. v. Plaquemines Parish days before oral argument because of those ConocoPhillips shares.
But nothing about Alito’s finances changed between February, when he voted to grant cert in Suncor, and Monday. His long-delayed financial disclosure confirmed he was still holding ConocoPhillips and Phillips 66 — the same holdings behind his recusal from the 2023 cert petition in this very case, and from a 2025 petition raising the same question against different oil companies. Back in May, a Court spokeswoman told NBC News that Alito “does not have a financial interest in any party” and that “his recusal is not required.” The Court also explained that the 2023 recusal had been “inadvertent.”
So he inadvertently got it right once, then deliberately got it wrong, and now he’s back to right. Progress!
What did change is how hard the conflict got to ignore. As Politico notes, Consumer Watchdog has pointed out that both ConocoPhillips and Phillips 66 have repeatedly warned their shareholders about the potential financial consequences of the case. It’s tough to claim you have no stake in the outcome when the companies you own keep telling you, in writing, that you do. The group also found that every climate case currently stayed pending the outcome of Suncor names ConocoPhillips, Phillips 66, or both as defendants.
Consumer Watchdog called the recusal the “right decision, and one he should have made from the start.”
“The public should not have to wonder whether a justice’s personal investments could benefit from a ruling that shields the fossil-fuel industry from liability,” said Organizing Director Alexandra Nagy.
The public shouldn’t have to wonder, but under an ethics code where the only enforcement mechanism is the justice’s own judgment, wondering is all the public gets. And for too long Alito’s judgment was that everything was fine, but better late than never, I guess.
Earlier: Sam Alito Delayed Financials Reveal Still Betting Big On Oil Companies As He Hears Climate Change Case
Samuel Alito Has Absolutely No (Direct) Financial Interest In The Upcoming Global Warming Case
Supreme Court Adopts ‘New’ Process To Avoid Conflicts Of Interest 20 Years Too Late
Remember That New Supreme Court Ethics Code? Sam Alito Doesn’t.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Bluesky @Kathryn1
