The U.S. Supreme Court has handed climate plaintiffs a meaningful procedural win, ruling that Enbridge could not remove a climate-related suit to federal court after the statutory deadline had passed. The Court rejected Enbridge’s argument that the removal clock under 28 U.S.C. § 1446(b)(1) could be equitably tolled, leaving the case where it began: state court.

That may sound like a narrow civil-procedure dispute, but for litigators following energy and environmental cases, it is a consequential one.

The U.S. Supreme Court handed oil and gas defendants a meaningful procedural victory in long-running Louisiana coastal-damage litigation, unanimously holding that the companies may pursue a federal forum under the federal-officer removal statute when the challenged conduct is tied to wartime fuel production for the federal government. The ruling, covered in AP’s report on the decision, does not resolve the merits of the environmental claims.

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a closely watched dispute over whether state and local governments can continue pursuing climate-change tort claims against oil and gas companies in state court. The case arises out of Colorado litigation brought by local governments seeking to recover damages tied to alleged climate impacts, including costs associated with extreme weather, wildfire risk, and other harms.

At the center of the fight is a recurring threshold issue in climate-liability litigation: forum.