Report: American consumers would foot the bill if climate cases succeed

"No politician would survive telling voters, 'I'm raising your gas tax 41 cents a gallon,' so the radical left found a workaround: sue and stick you with the bill,” Turner said.

“It's really that simple,” Turner said. “They sue, you pay."

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments next week in Suncor vs. Boulder County Commissioners. The Colorado case has nationwide implications and could determine whether states and local governments across the country can use state and local laws to seek billions of dollars in damages against energy companies for alleged contributions to climate change. 

So-called climate lawfare is when activists attempt to enact climate-related policies through the court room instead of via the traditional legislative process.

According to energy worker advocacy group Power the Future, climate lawfare comes with a “massive hidden price tag” Americans could eventually have to pay: “If every pending lawsuit and proposed law succeeded, the burden on the American energy system could reach $280 billion a year, adding roughly 41 cents to the price of every gallon of gasoline.”

This $280 billion a year – which the report explains is on the high end of estimates – would pan out to up to $2,111 per household annually, the report Who Really Pays? The Consumer Cost of Climate Litigation and "Climate Superfund" Legislation in the United States showed.

Besides more expensive gasoline, electricity rates could also increase by up to 8.6%, the report said.

These numbers are based on an assessment of “more than 300 pending legal actions, three enacted state statutes, twelve state legislative proposals, and one federal bill,” the report said.

The report noted that 9.1% of the income of low-income households is already spent on energy, meaning poorer families would be most negatively impacted by a hike in energy prices.

The report could find virtually no scenario where the cost to consumers was zero dollars after climate lawfare cases potentially succeeded. 

The report was authored by Turner as well as economist E.J. Antoni.

Power the Future called on Congress to pass the Stop Climate Shakedowns Act, which would “reassert federal primacy over greenhouse gas regulation and bar retroactive climate liability suits,” according to the report.