Amy Coney Barrett to hear climate lawsuit against Shell despite conflict of interest claims

Trump’s Supreme Court appointee, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, is set to hear legal arguments in a climate lawsuit against Shell next week amid conflict-of-interest accusations due to her father’s 30-year legal career at the oil giant.

A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday before the US’s highest court in the case brought by the city of Baltimore against Big Oil, including ExxonMobil, Shell and BP, demanding damages associated with sea-level rise and other effects of the climate crisis.

Justice Barrett’s father, Michael Coney, spent three decades as an attorney for Shell Oil between 1978 and 2007, where he oversaw legal issues for Shell’s offshore drilling arm.