Analysis: Justice Alito gained up to $2.9m from oil and gas holdings since joining Supreme Court
A new review by watchdog group Court Accountability finds Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has profited up to $2.9 million from fossil fuel investments since 2005, raising questions about his impartiality ahead of a major climate liability case.
A financial disclosure analysis by the non-profit watchdog Court Accountability, shared exclusively with the Guardian, shows Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito gained between roughly $390,000 and $2.9 million from oil and gas holdings between 2005, when he joined the court under President George W Bush, and 2024.
The findings arrive as the Supreme Court prepares to hear oral arguments on 5 October — the opening day of its new term — in a case brought by oil companies Suncor Energy and Exxon, who argue federal law bars local governments from suing fossil fuel producers over climate damage. The Trump administration, backing the oil companies, has requested 10 minutes of argument time.
Source of the gains
Most of Alito's fossil fuel earnings trace to a property in Grady County, Oklahoma, where his wife Martha-Ann holds a mineral interest. Court Accountability co-founder Lisa Graves, who authored the analysis, suggested Alito may have undervalued the property — a relative sold an adjacent plot for $800,000 in 2017, yet Alito continues to report the property's value at just $100,000 to $250,000. In 2022, Alito's wife agreed to lease the land to private oil and gas firm Citizen Energy, which was acquired for more than $2 billion in 2024 by Validus Energy.
Another significant portion of the gains came through inheritance: in 2004, Alito disclosed receiving an ExxonMobil stock bequest valued between $100,000 and $250,000, reportedly his highest-value single liquid investment. He appears to have since sold that stock. Alito has also held smaller stakes in over a dozen other oil companies, including ConocoPhillips and Chevron.
Ethics questions
Supreme Court ethics rules require recusal only when a justice's holdings involve companies directly named in a case. A court spokesperson said Alito need not recuse from the Suncor case since his holdings don't include Suncor or ExxonMobil directly. Court Accountability and other groups have urged a Senate committee to investigate Alito and called on him to recuse himself, but both Alito and the court have rejected those calls.
Alito is the only justice yet to file his 2025 financial disclosure; the original deadline was 15 May, though an extension could push the deadline to this week. He has a documented record of ruling in favor of fossil fuel interests, including dissenting in Massachusetts v EPA and joining the majority in West Virginia v EPA, though he has recused himself from other environmental cases with more direct ties to his investments.
