Supreme Court Justice Alito will not participate in big climate change case next week

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, in a surprising reversal, has recused himself from participating in a major climate-change case the Supreme Court is set to hear next week, which involves the oil companies Exxon Mobil and Suncor Energy.

Environmental groups had called for Alito, one of the court’s six conservative justices, to not participate in the case because of his holdings of stock in oil companies.

Alito had previously refused to step off the case, which is focused on the question of whether federal law precludes claims made under state law seeking damages for injuries allegedly caused by climate change to greenhouse gas emissions.

The case is set to be argued on Oct. 5.

“I am writing to inform the parties that Justice Alito has determined that he will not continue to participate in this case,” Scott Harris, the clerk of the Supreme Court, wrote lawyers for the parties in the case, known as Suncor Energy (USA) Inc. v. County Commissioners of Boulder County.

Alito’s sudden recusal sets up the possibility of a 4-4 split ruling on the Supreme Court in the case. A tie in a Supreme Court decision leaves in place the lower-court decision that was being appealed.

The case involves a lawsuit by the city of Boulder, Colorado, and its surrounding county, that seeks damages for alleged harms from the effects of global climate change. A trial court denied a motion to dismiss that was filed by Suncor and Exxon, and the Colorado state Supreme Court affirmed that ruling, allowing the suit to head to trial.

If the Supreme Court rules against the oil companies, the case would proceed toward trial.

In May, a Supreme Court spokeswoman told NBC News that Alito would not step aside from the case.

“Justice Alito does not have a financial interest in any party” involved in the case, the spokeswoman told NBC News at the time, adding that the Supreme Court’s legal counsel had advised Alito “his recusal is not required.”