Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito will not participate in a climate change case involving ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy next week. Environmental groups demanded his recusal. He agreed. Everyone pretends this changes something.
The case involves whether state courts or federal courts get to hear climate liability claims against oil companies. Alito owns stock in both companies. Between $15,000 and $50,000 worth, which for a Supreme Court Justice is apparently enough to matter but for literally anyone else would be called "not enough to retire on."
Environmental groups celebrated this as a victory. They got a guy who would've voted against them to sit out so a different guy who will also vote against them can take his place. Brilliant strategy. Really playing four-dimensional chess over there.
Retail traders saw this headline and immediately started Googling "how to trade Supreme Court recusals." They found nothing. They bought ExxonMobil anyway. The stock moved 0.2%. They lost money on commissions. They will do it again tomorrow.
The remaining eight justices will now decide whether oil companies can be sued in state court for lying about climate change for forty years. The legal question is jurisdictional. The actual question is whether anyone believes Supreme Court justices care about jurisdiction more than they care about protecting oil companies. Spoiler: they don't.
Alito recusing himself is like a vegetarian skipping the steak course at a twelve-course meal. Noble gesture. Completely irrelevant to the outcome. He'll be back for dessert and you'll still leave hungry.
The case gets heard next week. Eight justices will ask questions they already know the answers to. Lawyers will pretend those questions matter. The decision will come down months later on a 5-3 vote that could've been predicted the day the case was filed. Alito will have missed absolutely nothing except the chance to write a concurrence nobody reads.
Photo by Ian Hutchinson on Unsplash
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