WASHINGTON, June 10 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court

on Monday asked President Joe Biden's administration to offer

its views on a bid by Sunoco ( SUN ) and other oil companies to

scuttle a lawsuit by Honolulu accusing them of deceiving the

public about climate change.

The request will delay a decision by the justices on whether

to hear an appeal filed by the oil companies after Hawaii's top

court let the suit proceed. Other defendants in the lawsuit,

which alleges violations of state law, include Exxon Mobil ( XOM )

, BP, ConocoPhillips ( COP ), BHP Group ( BHP ),

Marathon Petroleum ( MPC ), Chevron ( CVX ) and Shell.

Honolulu has accused them of misleading the public for

decades about the dangers of climate change induced by the

burning of fossils fuels.

The administration's legal position will come in a brief

filed by the solicitor general, the Justice Department lawyer

who represents the federal government before the Supreme Court.

The suit was filed in 2020 by the city and county of

Honolulu and the Honolulu Board of Water Supply, a

semi-autonomous city agency. The plaintiffs said misleading

statements made by the companies about the impact of their

fossil fuel products paved the way for property and

infrastructure damage caused by human-induced climate change.