Supreme Court Justice Alito’s Oil and Gas Lease Raises Conflict of Interest Concerns
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s recent oil and gas lease in Grady County, Oklahoma, has raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest. Alito’s wife, Martha Ann Bomgardner Alito, inherited a 160-acre plot of land from her late father, and entered into an agreement with Citizen Energy III for revenue generated from oil and gas obtained from the land. The lease dictates that Citizen Energy will pay Alito’s wife 3/16ths of all the money it makes from oil and gas sales. While Citizen Energy III isn’t implicated in any cases before the Supreme Court, Alito’s holding in Oklahoma adds context to his political outlook that has alarmed environmentalists since his confirmation hearing in 2006.
Alito’s Rulings on Environmental Cases
Alito has made high-profile appearances at Federalist Society events to excoriate liberal doctrine since his appointment in 2006. He drafted the historic opinion that overturned Roe v. Wade, lashing out in public after the decision was leaked early to the press. In May, Alito penned a majority decision in Sackett v. EPA which radically scaled back the Clean Water Act, reducing its mandate by tens of millions of acres. According to a statement released by President Joe Biden, the ruling “puts our nation’s wetlands — and the rivers, streams, lakes and ponds connected to them — at risk of pollution and destruction, jeopardizing the sources of clean water that millions of American families, farmers and businesses rely on.” Prior to targeting the Clean Water Act, Alito joined the courts’ other conservative justices in attacking another set of EPA powers under the Clean Air Act in West Virginia v. EPA. The 2022 ruling gutted the EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.
Alito’s Financial Disclosures
Unlike other federal courts, the Supreme Court does not have a legally binding ethics code. While justices are required to file financial disclosures under the Ethics in Government Act, the choice of whether or not to recuse from cases involving a conflict of interest is entirely self-enforced. This loophole caught the public’s attention in April, when a ProPublica report detailed the lavish, undisclosed gifts and financial support Justice Clarence Thomas and his family received from billionaire GOP megadonor Harlan Crow. Since then, other justices’ financial dealings have been called into question, including Neil Gorsuch for an undisclosed property sale to a lawyer with business before the court, and John Roberts, whose wife’s employment as a legal recruiter for Supreme Court-bound lawyers raised a host of ethics questions.
Alito’s Position on Fossil Fuels
In 2017, Alito delivered an address at the Claremont Institute, a conservative think tank, that further clarified his position on fossil fuels’ role in climate change. “Carbon dioxide is not a pollutant. Carbon dioxide is not harmful to ordinary things, to human beings, or to animals, or to plants,” Alito said. “It’s actually needed for plant growth. All of us are exhaling carbon dioxide right now. So, if it’s a pollutant, we’re all polluting.” In 2021, Alito joined the majority in PennEast Pipeline Co. v. New Jersey to protect the right for companies with federal backing to exercise eminent domain in the seizure of state property.
Conclusion
Alito’s recent oil and gas lease in Oklahoma has raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest. While Citizen Energy III isn’t implicated in any cases before the Supreme Court, Alito’s holding in Oklahoma adds context to his political outlook that has alarmed environmentalists since his confirmation hearing in 2006. Alito’s rulings on environmental cases and his position on fossil fuels have further raised concerns about his impartiality. While the Supreme Court does not have a legally binding ethics code, justices are required to file financial disclosures under the Ethics in Government Act. The choice of whether or not to recuse from cases involving a conflict of interest is entirely self-enforced, and this loophole has caught the public’s attention in recent months.