Amy Coney Barrett Set To Hear Case Against Shell, Her Dad’s Employer For 29 Years

Amy Coney Barrett Set To Hear Case Against Shell, Her Dad’s Employer For 29 Years

Amy Coney Barrett was about 6 years old when her father, Michael Coney, began his 29-year career as one of Royal Dutch Shell's top attorneys. She was 16 in 1988 when the oil giant's own scientists prepared a confidential internal memo stating: "The main cause of increasing CO2 concentrations is considered to be fossil fuel burning.“ 

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in the city of Baltimore's lawsuit against Shell, BP and several other oil companies demanding damages for the effects of climate change. And it's unclear whether Barrett, the newest justice on the high court's bench, will recuse herself from the case. 

Justice Samuel Alito, who owns stock in several oil and gas companies, has already recused himself, documents filed with the court show. As of Thursday evening, nothing indicated that Barrett planned to do the same. 

Cases involving Shell raised obvious conflicts of interest for the judge in the past. A recusal list Barrett submitted as part of her job on the bench of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit listed Shell seven times. 

"My father worked at Shell Oil Company for many years, and while on the Seventh Circuit, in an abundance of