2026年9月29日 美国东部时间下午4:34 / 福克斯新闻
最高法院大法官未给出任何解释，与此同时，埃琳娜·卡根因一篇气候章节面临单独的回避呼吁
作者：伊莱恩·马伦，福克斯新闻
最高法院大法官塞缪尔·阿利托在口头辩论原定开始不到一周前，主动回避了备受关注的气候变化责任相关案件。
最高法院书记官斯科特·哈里斯周一在致双方律师的信函中表示，阿利托已回避森科能源公司诉博尔德县县委员会一案，但未说明理由。
“阿利托大法官对待出庭职责从不掉以轻心。我们不知道他回避的原因，因为理由尚未公开，但我预计他的回避最终不会改变森科诉博尔德案的结果，”司法公民网络（JCN）主席卡丽·塞韦里诺告诉福克斯新闻数字频道。
诉讼让每个美国家庭损失数千美元。最高法院可以出手相助
美国最高法院大法官塞缪尔·阿利托2022年10月7日于华盛顿特区。（亚历克斯·王/盖蒂图片社）
大法官们原定于周一就森科诉博尔德案进行口头辩论，开启2026-27年度的最高法院庭审周期。此案核心在于科罗拉多州博尔德市能否依据州法侵权索赔，起诉石油天然气公司，指控其在气候变化中所扮演的所谓推波助澜角色。
该案引发了共和党人的密切关注，他们认为科罗拉多州官员正利用司法系统推行其环保议程。
“他们的做法是绕过这些城市和州，在州法院提起侵权诉讼、大规模侵权诉讼以及公共妨害诉讼，通过协同方式达成相同目的，却无需经过民选官员的程序，”前阿拉斯加州总检察长、现任阿拉斯加州州长迈克·邓利维法律顾问史蒂夫·考克斯在周二的电话会议上表示。
“这不是一场关于气候变化的斗争，”前亚利桑那州副检察长、消费者联盟执行董事O·H·斯金纳在周二的电话会议中说道，“也不是一场关于气候科学的斗争。”
“这是一场关于我们是否允许这种策略重塑美国社会的斗争，这也是我认为所有人都应该关注的原因，无论他们对气候变化的看法如何，也无论他们对解决这个或那个问题的观点如何。你是否希望将法院作为我们的主要政策制定者？”
斯金纳承认阿利托的决定并非草率作出，但他表示，当一名大法官缺席庭审时，“对最高法院而言从来都不是好事”。
保守派团体称卡根大法官在即将到来的最高法院气候诉讼中无法保持公正
2024年12月17日，美国最高法院大楼位于华盛顿国会山。（美联社照片/J·斯科特·阿普怀特，资料图）
“这也是为什么左翼不断对大法官们大喊大叫要求回避和其他事项，对国家而言适得其反，”斯金纳说，“当最高法院没有配齐全部大法官时，这对法院没有好处。”
“与此同时，他是在了解所有情况后，基于自身考量作出这一决定的，我们永远不会知晓其中的全部细节。归根结底，大法官席位不全对法院没有好处，但我们也认为这不会成为此案的决定性因素，而且我们认为这没什么值得大惊小怪的，除非他是基于自身考量作出这一决定，且并非草率行事，在他看来这是正确的选择，”斯金纳继续说道。
阿利托在这起高风险气候案件中最后时刻决定回避，此前他曾于今年1月在雪佛龙美国公司诉普拉克明兹教区案中回避，该案涉及路易斯安那州海岸侵蚀纠纷，原因是他持有康菲石油公司的股票，而该公司是相关诉讼一方伯灵顿资源石油天然气公司的母公司。
最高法院财务披露文件显示：获得坏兔子唱片公司的音乐会门票、数百万美元图书稿酬
华盛顿特区——9月13日：美国最高法院大法官埃琳娜·卡根于2016年9月13日在华盛顿特区乔治华盛顿大学法学院参与一场讨论。（马克·威尔逊/盖蒂图片社）
与此同时，埃琳娜·卡根大法官因曾为《科学证据参考手册》撰写前言而面临回避森科诉博尔德案的呼吁，该手册包含一篇气候科学章节，后来被国会和共和党总检察长批评存在偏见，最终被移除。
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7月，由塞韦里诺牵头的十多个法律团体致函参议院司法委员会，呼吁展开调查。
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“卡根大法官对法官参考手册中具有党派色彩且现已被移除的气候科学章节的背书，持续引发人们对她能否公正裁决此案的质疑。我希望她能认真对待自己的道德义务。”
伊莱恩·马伦是福克斯新闻数字频道和福克斯商业频道的撰稿人，报道全国政治新闻。
Supreme Court climate showdown jolted by Alito’s last-minute decision
September 29, 2026 4:34pm EDT / Fox News
The Supreme Court justice offered no explanation, while Elena Kagan faces separate recusal calls over a climate chapter
By Elaine Mallon, Fox News
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito recused himself from a closely watched case over climate change liability less than a week before oral arguments were scheduled to begin.
Scott Harris, the clerk of the Supreme Court, informed the parties’ lawyers in a letter Monday that Alito had recused himself from Suncor Energy Inc. v. County Commissioners of Boulder County without providing an explanation.
“Justice Alito does not take his duty to sit lightly. We do not know why he recused himself, as the reason has not been made public, but I do not expect his recusal to ultimately change the outcome of Suncor v. Boulder,” Carrie Severino, president of JCN, told Fox News Digital.
LAWSUITS COST EVERY AMERICAN HOUSEHOLD THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS. SUPREME COURT CAN HELP
United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito on October 7, 2022 in Washington, D.C.(Alex Wong/Getty Images)
The justices were scheduled to kick off the 2026-27 term by hearing oral arguments in Suncor v. Boulder on Monday. The case centers on whether Boulder, Colorado, can use its state-law tort claims to sue oil and gas companies over their alleged role in contributing to climate change.
The case has drawn scrutiny from Republicans, who argue Colorado officials are weaponizing the court system to get their environmental agenda enacted.
“What they’re doing is they’re going around to these cities and these states, and using tort litigation, mass tort litigation, public nuisance lawsuits in state courts, and in a coordinated way to effectuate the same kind of a result, but just without having to go through their democratically elected officials,” Steve Cox, former Alaska attorney general and current counsel to Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy , said in a Tuesday conference call.
“It’s not a fight about climate change,” O.H. Skinner, former Arizona solicitor general and executive director of the Alliance for Consumers, said during a Tuesday conference call. “It’s not a fight about climate science.”
“It’s a fight about whether we’re going to allow this maneuver to be what reshapes American society, and that’s why I think everybody should care, irrespective of their views on climate change or their views on how to fix this problem or that problem. Do you want courts as our primary policymakers?”
Skinner acknowledged that Alito did not come to his decision lightly, but said its “never good for the court” when a justice is missing from a ruling.
CONSERVATIVE GROUPS SAY JUSTICE KAGAN CANNOT BE IMPARTIAL IN UPCOMING SUPREME COURT CLIMATE LITIGATION
The Supreme Court is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 17, 2024.(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
“This is part of why the left constantly screaming at the justices about recusal and other things is counterproductive for the country,” Skinner said. “It doesn’t help the court when they don’t have their full complement.”
“At the same time, he made that decision knowing all of that and based on his own personal considerations, and we will never know all of the details of that. At the end of the day, it does not help the court to not have their full complement, but it is also not something that we think will be dispositive of the case, and it’s not something that we think is noteworthy, other than that he made that decision based on his own considerations and didn’t do it lightly, and he is making the right choice in his mind,” Skinner continued.
Alito’s last-minute decision to recuse himself from the high-stakes climate case follows his January recusal in Chevron USA Inc. v. Plaquemines Parish, a Louisiana coastal erosion dispute, because he owned stock in ConocoPhillips, the parent company of one of the parties in the related litigation, Burlington Resources Oil and Gas Company.
SUPREME COURT FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES REVEAL CONCERT TICKETS FROM BAD BUNNY’S LABEL, MILLIONS IN BOOK PAYMENTS
WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 13: U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Elena Kagan participates in a discussion at the George Washington University Law School, September 13, 2016 in Washington, DC.(Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Justice Elena Kagan has faced calls to recuse herself from Suncor v. Boulder because she wrote the foreword to the Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence, which included a climate science chapter that was later criticized by Congress and Republican attorneys general as biased and was eventually removed.
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In July, more than a dozen legal groups, in a letter spearheaded by Severino, urged the Senate Judiciary Committee to open an investigation.
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“Justice Kagan’s endorsement of the partisan and now-removed climate science chapter of the judges’ reference manual continues to raise questions about her ability to impartially decide the case. I hope she is taking her own ethical obligation seriously.”
Elaine Mallon is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business covering national politics.
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