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Under Chief Justice John Roberts, the U.S. Supreme Court has become infamous for its pro-business bias, as the conservative members have routinely authored opinions, such as Citizens United v. FEC, Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, and Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, that advance the interests of big business at the expense of the general welfare. But of all the industries that this court seems to have a soft spot for, the oil industry stands out. The recent disclosure of the so-called shadow docket papers—internal memos revealing how some of the justices maneuvered to halt an Obama-era rule to limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants—reveal a deep antipathy to environmental and climate regulation even among some of the court’s supposedly more moderate conservatives.

The next opportunity for the court to deliver a landmark win to the oil industry is Suncor v. Boulder County, in which Boulder County sued oil majors in state court for the local damages caused by their climate-changing business. Such suits for damages are a bedrock of the rule of law and a bulwark in times of deregulation, but the oil and gas industry is hoping to close this pathway entirely by extracting their biggest favor yet from the court’s conservatives: nearly blanket immunity from liability for damages from their activities.

The defendants have pursued various strategies to have the case dismissed before reaching trial, including arguing that federal law preempts the legal claims raised in the lawsuit. When the Colorado Supreme Court ultimately rejected this argument, the companies appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The stakes of the case are high and extend well beyond the Boulder County lawsuit. The bill for climate damages is racking up quickly: Even Donald Trump’s federal government acknowledges that the pace of $100 billion climate disasters is increasing, and climate analysts estimate that unchecked warming could lead to large decreases in economic productivity.

Boulder County does not stand alone in sharing some of the costs of the oil companies’ conduct—there are thousands of similarly situated communities facing uncompensated damages. Normally, the law requires that........

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